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The president of Catalonia, Pere Aragonès, will travel to Paris next week to take part in the annual encounter at the beginning of the economic and political term organized by the French employers' association MEDEF. A trip focused on economic issues, but not only that. As well, the head of the Catalan executive will be defending the cause of Catalonia in other ways: on Tuesday, Aragonès will be part of a round table which will debate under the slogan 'Autonomous or independent. But Europeans above all!' in an event which is intended to discuss the future of autonomist and independence political movements following their current "resurgence", going through cases such as Catalonia, Scotland, Ireland and Corsica. In the description of the event, the question posed is whether Europe could "federate" these lands.

In this debate, Pere Aragonès will have some prestigious companions, including the current French interior minister Gérald Darmanin. Beyond this representative of Emmanuel Macron's government, the other participants will be former French prime minister Bernard Cazeneuve, the Corsican executive council's president Gilles Simeoni, and Guadeloupe vice-president Marie-Luce Penchard. The journalist Saveria Rojek will be moderator.

Over 8,000 expected at economic event

An event, then, that will take place as part of the economic meeting organized by the French employers' association MEDEF. Under the title Recontre des Entrepreneurs de France ('Meeting of the Entrepreneurs of France'), it is the great economic and political event at the beginning of the French autumn term, and gathers together more than 8,000 people from the business, academic, social and political spheres. This is an event of great importance in the country, and which the organization expects to attract 500 journalists. It will take place on Monday 29th and Tuesday 30th August, and more than 150 speakers are expected to participate in the 30 debates and lectures scheduled.

This year's theme is the role that Europe can play in the world in the current turbulent context, and in the face of other models such as those of the US, Russia and China. In addition, the presentation of the meeting notes the current economic situation, resulting from the war in Ukraine, and considers what the future model might be for a Europe with rampant inflation and energy supply difficulties that could soon exacerbate the crisis. Among participants will also be prominent members of the French government, such as prime minister Élisabeth Borne; the European and foreign minister Catherine Colonna, energy transition minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher, as well as regional presidents, diplomats and businesspeople - including the CEOs of Carrefour, L'Óreal, Orange, EDF and Siemens France.