Making an impact
on international relations:
A Galician
perspective
Fernando Pérez-Barreiro Nolla
First
of all, let
The
subject of this first day is very
I
would like to do two different things here. First, I shall describe, as briefly
as possible, the historical
The
affirmation of a Galician distinctive personality, which, always present
through history, was refined into a
Nationalisms
in the Spanish context are perhaps better understood as expressions of
deep-felt disagreement with the shape the Spanish State took in the course of
the formation of the modern State in the 15th and 16 centuries.
Nationalisms in Spain carry with themselves, as a consequence, a calling to an
alternative approach to political life. Born of dissatisfaction with the past,
they claim an opportunity to make an alternative contribution to the future. In
the case of Galicia, there is a tradition of a greater affinity with the world
outside, as a reaction against what was felt as Spanish proud isolation from
the currents of modern thought.
The
constitutional framework
The Spanish State, in its
current shape, is a constitutional monarchy resulting from the process known as
the Transition, from the death of the
previous Head of State, General Franco, in November 1975 to the adoption of the
Constitution in December 1978. An immense amount of historical questions
gravitated upon the constitutional process, and all, or almost all, of them
were addressed, with different degrees of success, in the text of the
Constitution. Not the least of those
questions was the status of the territorial componentes of the State. With
different levels of political awareness
and different histories of national affirmation behind them, Catalunya, Euskadi
and Galicia were in the first line of consideration for a new dispensation that
would recognize their claims as differentiated political entities. Both
Catalunya and Euskadi had enjoyed autonomy under the Second Republic. Galicia
had voted for autonomy in a referendum in 1936, shortly before the start of the
Civil War, and its Estatute or regional constitution was approved by the
Republican Cortes in 1938, that is during the civil war and when Galicia had
been already part of the Francoist territory for one and a half years.
The Constitution adopted in
1978 and now in force is not a federal one, but adopts an intermediate formula,
not very well-defined, between the two classical forms of federation, on the
one hand, and on the other, unitary
State. The emphasis falls on unity, probably in response to the traditional
concerns of the Right (in general terms). Article 2 begins by saying that “This
Constitution is based on the indisoluble unity of the Spanish nation, the
common and unbreakable fatherland of all
Spaniards” and immediately after says: “ it recognizes and guarantees the right
to autonomy of the nationalities and regions that integrate it (Spain) and also
the solidarity among all of them”. And Article 8 confers to the Armed Forces,
composed of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force "the mission of ensuring
the sovereignty and independence of Spain, defending its territorial integrity
and the constitutional order".
Nevertheless, there are not less than sixteen Articles, from 143 to 158,
inclusive, devoted to the Comunidades Autónomas. These Communities are not enumerated or
described; general conditions of a historical, economic and cultural nature can
entitle some territories to apply for this status. A law of Parliament would
approve in each case an “Estatuto”, that would become the highest regional law.
This instruments can be, an are, different from community to community. There
is a list, quite generous, of competences that can be transferred to the
Communities, and a longer one of matters that are of the “exclusive competence”
of the central State. The third of those, and the more important one for our
subject here and today appears as number three in that list: “International
relations”.
That is perfectly normal.
Reserving international relations to the central authority is almost automatic
even in fully federal states like, say, the German Federal Republic. It can be
said that this is the orthodoxy of International Law.
Having said that this is
normal, I would like to add that it is also rapidly becoming old-fashioned.
Paradiplomacy
Nowadays one hears a new term
in the theory of international relations: paradiplomacy. For the last thirty years or so, what has been called globalization has eroded
the primacy of states in favour or supranational or multinational entities,
but, at the same time, allowed the liberation of subnational authorities from
some constraints regarding their activity abroad. There seems to exist an academic consensus,
or something approaching consensus, on this.
It goes with the acceptance that there is a process afoot by which
international relations have been replaced –as an academic subject, and also as
a reality—by what is sometimes called “global politics”.
Many considerations favour
this trend. One of the most significant is, probably, that it offers more
flexibility to deal with a globalized market.
Regions till now within states could be ideal structures to build
efficient networks for economic growth. This is the perspective adopted by
Manuel Castells, for instance. And I have heard Scotland quoted in this
context, I don’t know with how much fundament.
Coming back to the
constitutional field and the Galiciam case, it has to be said that the real
situation has departed considerably from the clear-cut position of the
Constitution. This has happened through
a process of constitutional development
by the Estatutos themselves and also by the jurisprudence of the constitutional
court. The creation of a number of
“faits accomplis” has also been utilized
to further this process, more in Catalonia, I would say, that in Galicia.
Pushing at the edge of what is strictly legal has created situations on which
no going back has occurred.
The Spanish Constitutional
Court, in a Ruling of July 1989, declared null and void an agreement concluded
between the Department of the Environment of the Galician government and the
Environmental Protection Agency of the Government of Denmark. The Ruling
carried the dissenting vote of four of the twelve members of the Court, and was
amended, if only by implication, in a Ruling of May 1994, which declared that –
I quote in translation—“in order for the functions that have been allocated to
it to be properly carried out, an Autonomous Community must carry on certain
activities, not just beyond its own territorial borders but also beyond the
territorial limits of Spain”. This has become the “locus classicus” for the
discussion of the subject of legality of
international activities carried out by the Autunomous Communities.
Another aspect of the linkage
of sub-state authorities to the world of treaties is the adoption of measures
for the implementation of international conventions and agreements. While the
Statute of Autonomy of Galicia does not
specifically mention such competence, in contrast with the Statutes of many
other Communities in Spain, it does not seem to forbid it. A similar situation
occurs in respect of the right to receive information on international
agreements, absent in the Galician Statute and present in some other.
The practice of being
represented as part of the Spanish delegation in international negotiations
affecting Galician interests has also being recognized, although it can still
create frictions in particular instances.
It would be perhaps in order
now for
Geopolitics
In geo-political terms,
Galicia is, along with Portugal and South-Western Andalusia, part of the
Atlantic face of the Iberian Peninsula. Its ties with the Spanish state
determined that the strategic possibilities of such position were developed in
line with Spanish foreign relations and the alliances and conflicts that Spain
maintained with other countries. The strategic value of the Galician coasts
reached its peak during the long period of imperial rivalry between Spain and
England.
In the circunstances of the
modern world, the Galician coast is no longer a focus of strategic conflict.
The South Atlantic is now more problematic than the North. This is recognized
in the new territorial deployment of the Spanish armed forces and particularly
in the new deployment of the Navy.
A certain disparity between
the coast and the inland areas appears to have been corrected by the
improvement of communications with the rest of the Peninsula. This should
contribute towards the expansion of a supplying hinterland for the vanguard of
the Atlantic bulkhead of the Galician ports. This could reduce the relative
marginalization of Galicia.
Galicia could be a node for
maritime communication lines between the American Continent and Europe and
those that link the Atlantic ports of Europe with the Mediterranean routes, or
those of West Africa and even Asia.
From another point of view, the
demographic one, the Galician community displays more negative economic
indicators than Spain as a whole. It has
the greatest number of the elderly, and its birth-rate is one of the lowest in
Europe. The population shows a high degree of dispersion, with over 30.000 population centres and seven centres of more
than 70.000 inhabitants. Given the drive
for economic development, it seems that Galicia could be open to an
inmigrant population, which might be, to a large extent, of Galician origin,
i.e. coming from the Galician Diaspora.
Geographical priority areas
European Union
In this area, it is the task
of the Galician Government to promote, coordinate and maintain Galician
interests in the European sphere and, more specifically, in the European Union.
The Galician Government is committed to the European
regional movement and participates in the Committee of the Regions. It
participates also directly in several
Committees of the European Commision and
is a member of the “Atlantic Arch”.
Coordination with the authorities of the central government at this
level is established through the Conference of Affairs Related to the European
Communities and the sectorial conferences Internal Partnership Arrangement.
This is a theoretical and practical priority in the
field of Euro-regional infrastructures (roads, railways, utilities,
telecommunications, etc.). These projects are administered through the
Galicia-North of Portugal Working Community. The Euroregion has been one of the
most successful within the INTERREG programme, and also one of the main users
of structural funds. Its future seems to be dependent, to an extent we cannot
yet determine with any precision, on the future of such funds in the enlarged
Union and on the fact that the INTERREG Programme itself is being phased out.
The importance of some Latin American countries as
places of settlement of the Galician diaspora for over a century, and the emotional
and intellectual close relations with those countries, give Latin America a
very special place in any Galician vision of the world.
The action undertaken by Galicia in Latin America, and
more specifically in the Mercosur zone, is quite extensive. Galicia became a
link between Mercosur and the EU through the mandate received by the then
President of the Galician Government from the Conference of Peripheral and
Maritime Regions of Europe in 1997. As a signatory to the Memorandum on
Cooperation of the Latin American Integration Association , and also a member
of the Multilateral Accord among a set of Southern Brazilian States and
Argentine provinces in the North-Western borders (CODESUL-CRECENEA), a dense
network of political will to cooperate has been established.
Some lines of action
1. Interregional
cooperation
At the bilateral level, in addition to the
arrangements relating to Portugal, there is Galician cooperation with diverse
regions of France, Italy and Poland. In the multilateral sphere, Galicia
participates in the Conference of Peripheral and Maritime Regions, and in
particular in its Atlantic Arch Commission, in the Assembly of European
Regions, the Association of European Border Regions, and the Conference of
European Local and Regional Authorities, a subordinate body of the Council of
Europe.
2. Support for the
internationalisation of Galician companies
In a context of market globalisation and the
progressive opening up of the Galician market, it is important to increase the
number of export companies, diversify the markets and consolidate the
international presence of the sector. Public and private players arrange
consultancy and training activities in subjects related to foreign trade and
explore possibilities for obtaining aid, whether local or international, for
the commercial promotion or direct establishment in third countries.
3. Cooperation to
development.
The adoption by the Galician Parliament in 2003 of the
Cooperation for Development Act was an important step in the consolidation of the
decentralised form of helping development in the world. It was preceded by the
appearance of associative forms such as the Galician Fund for Cooperation and
Solidarity. The Fund gets its resources
from budgetary assignations of the Galician councils and other local
administrations, and finances, in all or in part, aid programmes in many
countries, most of them in Latin America, but also in Portuguese-speaking
African countries, such as Cabo Verde.
Relevant Galician institutions
In the Galician Executive, the responsibility for external relations is attributed to a
General Secretary, who reports directly to the President. His Department is not one of the ministries
or “Consellerías”, but is organically included in the Presidency. It has also a General Direction of
Cooperation and Development. The former
Ministry of Emigration has become another of the Secretaries of the Presidency.
In the Galician Parliament a non-legislative Standing
Committee for European Affairs has been created.
In the administrative organigram of the Galician
autonomous community, it is also necessary to highlight the overseas role of
the following entities:
Galician
Institute of Economic Promotion (IGAPE), with representative offices abroad.
Orientated towards attracting foreign investment and providing support for
business oportunities, logistics aid and physical support in order to assist
the overseas expansion of Galician firms.
Directorate
General of Trade, which develops foreign trade promotion through the Plan for
the development of Galician Exports (FOEXGA), and organization of fairs and
exhibitions (Expo-Galicia).
General
Subdirectorate of International Fisheries Cooperation,
Concluding remarks
I would like now to make some concluding remarks, with
a view to the future.
The first prospectus of this Conference includes in
this first session a reference to the possibilities that international
institutions, and in particular the European Union, may offer to our countries.
Well, let
The traditional states look as they were to be still
for a long time the main players in Europe, and in practice we have now a
double dependence, from Madrid and Brussels, in our case. And it is worth
noticing that the political class is the same in both centres of power. As are
the same the ways of access to power and the party systems. The distance from
the centre of decision, another of the main pillars of the nationalist
discourse, has not diminished. The subsidiarity principle is infringed every
day in the communitary practice. The EU is still politics as usual and not the
Kingdom of Heaven.
The defence of a cultural identity has been an
essential part of nationalism, and I feel it could be lost or severely damaged
in the promotion, well planned and well funded, of an European common culture,
necessitated, as they say, by the single market. A word of caution is in order
here, I think.
On the other hand, we have to be realistic. The
European Union is what we have, and we have to work with it and try to use it
in our best interests. The economic benefits of the Union have been obvious in
our infrastructures, but should not be uncritically accepted as manah, and are
not going to last for ever.
Let us go back to the concept of paradiplomacy that I
referred to earlier. The fact that there might be more players in the
international field does not mean that
things are going to be easier for any of them. On the contrary, the game is
going to be more difficult and complex. That our nations without state are
going to be heard does not mean that they will, always and all of them, win.
There are serious conflicts of interest between regions, and in those conflict
there will be winners and losers. To cite two examples, let us remember
fisheries and the dairy industry.
We have to be prepared to work in this new field with
realism . Diplomacy will still be needed in paradiplomacy. And, as someone has said, European
paradiplomacy is a heavy cocktail.
Galicia, the Galicia that Galician nationalists
proclaim, has always wanted to be a nation in the world. And the
The other, not unrelated aspect, I want to touch
upon is that of the Diaspora. As a
result of massive emigration of Galicians in the past, there is now a Galician
Diaspora, largely but not exclusively in Latin America. Diasporic Galicians, who
are still called sometimes emigrants, although most of then have been living in
their countries of settlement for two or more generations, are called to play
an important part in the external projection of Galicia. And more than that, I
dare to say that they could be a significant element in the shaping of a future
world, more realistic and more promising than that of regional blocs
territorially defined. I am talking about a multi-layered global system than
can still open a horizon of hope to our distressful world. And my best wishes
go to Scotland and Galicia playing a rewarding role in that global system.