Pedro Sanchez will encourage Catalonia and the Basque Country to become associate members of the UNESCO and UN Tourismthe former World Tourism Organization.
These are two organizations that depend on The United Nations and in which, today, Spain appears without differentiated territories.
The decision of the President of the Government, announced Monday during his political assessment of the year, aims to rebuild bridges with Together and also attract the support of MRC and the nationalism Basque.
The usual thing is that the subject of representation is a state, which acts as a member of a complete RIGHT and concentrates the international voice of its territories.
The figure of “associate member” It is intended for non-sovereign territories that do not manage their foreign policy. This is not the case for either the Basque Country or Catalonia.
That is to say, it is a category bringing together regions which, for specific reasons – such as their administrative framework or their insularity – have a differentiated presence in relation to the State in certain regions. multilateral forums.
For example, at UN Tourism, there are only six associate members: Aruba, Flanders, Hong Kong, Macau, Madeira And Port Rich.
At UNESCO, this category includes, among others, Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and several overseas territories of the United Kingdom.
These regions have their own delegation, but have a more limited status, without voting rights. They are not considered full members.
Madeirafor example, is listed as an associate member of Portugal due to its island status.
It is not the same with other Spanish territories with similar characteristics, such as Canary Islands, Ceuta either Melilla.
It is for this reason that the proposal to now attempt to decompose Spain into Catalonia And the Basque Country would introduce a exception unpublished.
And this can only be understood in the context of Sánchez’s political weakness, because the initiative is proposed at the worst moment in the relationship between the PSOE and the party of Carles Puigdemont.
“Regarding the relationship with Junts, in fact, you know, it is broken, but the Government wants to reach out and continue on this roadmap,” the president said in the first of four questions he accepted during his appearance.
It was there, in fact, that he announced his efforts for these two communities to become associate members of UNESCO and UN Tourism.
This maneuver is part of Sánchez’s strategy to sell advances to Junts internationally. In fact, the government has already resorted to this route after the EU blocked the official status of Catalan.
La Moncloa then presented the acceptance of Catalan in European schools as a success, a move which in reality has no legal effect on European institutions.
On the other hand, it is much more important to include the Basque Country and Catalonia in multilateral forums.
Because these two autonomous communities would be recognized as territorial subjects differentiated in areas such as education, culture or tourism.
This status allows them to participate with their own delegation in meetings, commissions and programs, as well as to channel projects without constantly depending on State representation.
The formula does not in any way modify Spanish sovereignty, but it introduces a certain institutionalized paradiplomacy.
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