The Spanish Presidency of the EU Council, which began on Saturday1 July, has announced that it will support the creation of a European tourism agency. “In coordination with the Conference of Presidents of the Outermost Regions (OR), the Spanish Presidency will foster crosscutting action favouring ORs, responding to the structural deficit recognised in Article 349 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)”, the Presidency programme states.
Spain would like to see branches of this new European agency in each of the geographical areas of the outermost regions. This position is in response to an appeal launched in March by the European Parliament’s Committee on Regional Development (REGI) (see EUROPE 13147/14).
The programme also states that “The Presidency will pay special attention to ensuring the sustainability of tourism, especially as concerns its social dimension, which is crucial to achieving tourism that is high-quality, accessible and in line with the Sustainable Development Goals”. It also hopes to improve the digitalisation of the services offered, with special attention to obtaining the necessary statistics enabling the design of policies in line with the objectives of sustainability and social impact established for the sector.
Spain would also like to see progress in the regulation of short-term rentals, ensuring a balanced framework for affordable housing and sustainable tourism.
An informal ministerial meeting on tourism will be held in Palma de Mallorca on Monday 30 and Tuesday 31 October. This meeting will be preceded by a European Forum on Tourism, which will focus on the issue of social sustainability and the travel industry. Finally, the Tourism Intelligence and Data Forum will be held in Benidorm on Thursday 16 November.
Read the Spanish Presidency programme: https://aeur.eu/f/7v4 (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)