EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT INTERGROUPS: WHEN THE INDUSTRY IS CALLING THE SHOTS

Intergroups are key components in the European Parliament's modus operandi, allowing members from different political groups to focus on specific political topics. Though it is only parliamentarians who can be formal members, Intergroups may comprise a variety of different actors, and interaction is characterised by interests, non-hierarchical negotiations, easy communication lines and trust. Some Intergroups are targeted by interest groups to such an extent that a fusion nearly happens, whereas others do not receive any attention at all. Intergroups can have considerable impact by moulding ideas for new ‘wise’ policies. Intergroups allow Members of the European Parliament to signal their preferences, exchange information and coordinate legislative initiatives.

MEPs meet in intergroups to discuss various topics of shared interest across the normal divide of political groups and parliamentary committees. Intergroups are interesting to both MEPs and outsiders for various reasons, some more obvious than others. Among these reasons is the political significance that even the existence of some intergroups can have.

For the Members of the European Parliament, there are several reasons to join, support or even put some real effort into the work of the intergroups, among them are:

• Showing that they care: By joining an intergroup on a given subject, they have signaled that they care about the topic, which is always handy when you are a politician. Since few non-MEPs attend the intergroup meetings, most people (including journalists) will only ever hear about an MEP’s membership of a given intergroup, rather than about their level of activity there.
• Finding like-minded MEPs: For some MEPs the intergroups are also a good place to discover colleagues (be they normally friend or foe) that are interested in the same topics. As such the intergroups can be good place to look for co-signatories for amendments, co-hosts or speakers at events, etc.
• Getting a title: For quite a number of the MEPs involved in the Intergroups, it is also about getting a title. Each intergroup has a President or Chairman as well as a number of Vice-Chairs. These posts are normally distributed so that many (or all) of the groups are represented in the leadership of the Intergroup. So for an ambitious MEP, who might otherwise have missed out in the big game of who-gets-which-title.

As EP-insiders know, the intergroups are not only of interest to people inside the Parliament, in many cases NGOs, trade associations, private companies, lobbyists, and many more often also have an interest in the intergroups. Some of the reasons for this are:

• Direct Financial interest: The official intergroups are not only official in name, they also receive financial resources to support their work. This support is often received by an NGO who will be providing secretarial support and set up events for the group. Needless to say, since many NGOs feel themselves chronically short of resources, this extra income can be more than welcome.
• Agenda-setting: Because the intergroups gather politicians across groups and committees they can be ideal places for outsiders to try and set or influence the EP’s agenda. Often this either happens by highlighting certain aspects of a known issue, or by acquainting the MEPs with a (for them) new topic all together.
• Knowing the actors: For lobbyist, embassy-staff and others following and/or trying to influence the work of the EP, the intergroups are also interesting simply because they gather together MEPs who declare themselves interested in topic or another. Hereby MEPs kindly contribute to mapping relevant politicians within a certain field – a service many consultancies often earn good money doing for various clients.

It is noteworthy that the creation of the European tourism development, cultural heritage, Way of St James and other European cultural sites Intergroup within the European Parliament was impulsed by HOTREC the umbrella Association of Hotels, Restaurants, Cafés and other  similar establishments in Europe. Back in July 2014, HOTREC launched a campaign to achieve the creation of an intergroup on tourism, with the goal to facilitate regular exchange of views with MEPs on horizontal issues and promote the benefits of tourism-friendly policies. HOTREC received the early support from MEP Ana-Claudia Tapardel (Romania), MEP Istvan Ujhelyi (Hungary), MEP Luis Pascual de Grandes (Spain) and from Vice-President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani who called for the establishment of such intergroup in an event organised by HOTREC on 8 October 2014 in the European Parliament.

In its campaign, HOTREC rapidly joined forces with the major tourism stakeholders (e.g. tour operators and travel agents, the cruise industry, the camp sites sector, the amusement parks sector, the bus, coach and taxi sector) gathered in NET (the Network for the European private sector in Tourism) and of the trade unions of the tourism sector. As a result, some 115 Members of the European Parliament officially recognised the need for such an intergroup and on 11 December 2014, the Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament officially created a parliamentary intergroup on European tourism development.

HOTREC claims that this was a major achievement for it and its fellow sister organisations and a strong recognition from the EU institutions of the importance of tourism for the European economy and the need for tourism-friendly policies.

It is also noteworthy that the 4 MEPs mentioned above have declined to join the Tourism Europe Forum's (TEF) Steering Committee aimed at providing a more transparent dialogue and a broader participation of ALL interested stakeholders not just HOTREC, Cruise Companies Operating in Europe (CLIA Europe), Travel Agents and Tour Operators in Europe (ECTAA), Camp Sites, Holiday Parks & Holiday Villages in Europe (EFCO& HPA), EuropeanTourism Association (ETOA),International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA), and International Road Transport Union (IRU).

There is indeed a great need for the different players to work togther:

• European Commission
• Member States Governments
• Local Authorities/Destination Management Organisations
• Tourism businesses (trade bodies and associations at European, national and destination level including sectoral associations and informal networks
• Other bodies (educational and research establishments, trade unions, consumer associations, international organisations)
• Tourists

In contrast, the proposed TEF would not a lobbying organisation. That wouldn't be its role. Moreover, the diversity of its membership would mean that it would'nt be capable of advocating a position of its own. The value placed on the TEF would lie in its diverse membership, allowing debate and the issuance of impartial commentaries on key issues at the heart of the European legislative agenda. During its debates, all participants, including consumer representatives and other stakeholders would be entitled to voice their opinion. Since the TEF would benefit from members of the whole tourism industry,that have different point of views, all positions would be taken into account, thus helping to ensure neutrality. Through its organisation and activities, the Forum would pay particular attention to the fair and equitable representation of all the different areas in the European tourism including the views of  consumer/end-user groups.