The report by Cláudia Monteiro de Aguiar (EPP, Portugal) on the implementation of a European strategy for sustainable tourism was adopted by a large majority in plenary on Thursday 25 March (577 votes in favour, 31 against, 80 abstentions) after receiving almost unanimous support in committee (see EUROPE 12667/8).
In it, the European Parliament details a series of measures aimed at remedying, in the short term, the weaknesses of a sector that has been virtually idling for more than a year (see EUROPE 12454/13) and at responding to the challenges, mainly climate and digital, that it will have to face in the years to come. It calls for the presentation of an action plan with concrete targets by the end of the year and the presentation of a European tourism strategy.
Reopen
The first part of the report is devoted to the recovery of the sector, which has seen its revenues fall by 70% in 2020, according to the European Commission. The tourism ecosystem, which provides 22 million jobs in the EU, is “experiencing the worst difficulties in its history”, the report says.
It “needs short-term liquidity, many companies are on the verge of bankruptcy”, argued Ms Monteiro de Aguiar in plenary on Wednesday 24 March, calling on behalf of the Parliament for the EU to “launch a Marshall Plan” for the sector.
The latter is also counting on the coming summer season to get back on track. “The roll-out of the vaccines gives us optimism about projections for 2021”, Eduardo Santander, executive director of the European Travel Commission (ETC), which represents the industry at European level, told EUROPE. “All our hopes are placed on the summer of 2021”, he says in summary.
MEPs therefore call for the resumption of travel and for common criteria to be applied to ensure safety.
They call on the Commission and the Member States to introduce a common colour-coded system for travel to non-Member States, for the introduction of a health certificate—which should only be a matter of time (see other news)—and for a European label defining minimum standards of prevention of Covid-19 to be awarded to establishments.
Rethink
Parliament also puts forward a series of demands concerning the future of the sector, in particular its governance, which it would like to see more European.
It calls for the creation of a specific Commission Directorate for Tourism “with adequate funding” and a European Tourism Agency. EU Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius, who also spoke at the plenary on Wednesday, reacted to this point by saying that he wanted to work with states and stakeholders on the implementation of such an agency.
The report also calls for a discussion to be launched at the conference on the future of Europe, with a view to helping tourism become a shared EU competence rather than an additional one.
To consult the adopted text: https://bit.ly/3sA6gRn (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)