THE LISBON TREATY AND EUROPE’S TOURISM INDUSTRY (RECOLLECTION)

The adoption into law of the Lisbon Treaty on 1st December 2009 represented a very significant moment for Europe’s tourism industry. For the very first time in its history, the European Union was given specific powers to direct tourism activity across Europe.

The EU was given legal support to develop a set of actions to respond to the many challenges and opportunities facing the tourism sector.

Article 195 of the Treaty states as follows:

1. The Union shall complement the action of Member States in the tourism sector, in particular by promoting the competitiveness of Union undertakings in that sector. To that end, Union action shall be aimed at:

a) encouraging the creation of a favourable environment for the development of undertakings in this sector;

(b) promoting cooperation between Member States, particularly by the exchange of good practice.

2. The European Parliament and the Council, acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure, shall establish specific measures to complement actions with the Member States to achieve the objectives referred to in this Article, excluding any harmonisation of the laws and regulations of the Member States(European Union, 2007).

Article 195 of the Treaty therefore provided a formal basis for the development of a coherent policy approach to tourism in order to make the sector more competitive. The Treaty also gave the EU Parliament new powers to influence tourism activity and, very importantly, directed that no new tourism policy decisions be taken without the assent of Parliament. In short, the Treaty equipped both the Parliament and the Council with new legal powers to develop a common European policy with respect to tourism. However, while the EU has the competence to support the actions of Member States, it is worth noting that because Article 195 excludes any harmonisation at European level relating to tourism, responsibility for the development of the sector ultimately still falls to national, regional and local authorities.

The Framework

The inclusion of tourism in the Lisbon Treaty meant that the Commission was obliged to respond to this reality and therefore put a framework in place to support tourism development.

In advance of the launch of this new framework, the Spanish Government, which held the Presidency of the Council of the EU for the first six months of 2010, convened a meeting of EU tourism ministers. The meeting adopted the Madrid Declaration in which the Member States declared their willingness to do the following:

• Take part in the implementation of the new consolidated EU tourism policy framework, to be established in light of the Lisbon Treaty, subject to the principle of subsidiarity;
• Promote responsible and ethical tourism and, especially, social, environmental, cultural and economic sustainability of tourism;
• Raise awareness of the importance of knowledge and innovation in tourism, the strengthening of the use of new technologies by the public and private tourism actors, the encouraging of networking and the exchange of best practices, as tools for the competitiveness of European tourism;
• Support measures and initiatives encouraging the lengthening of the high season in tourism, thus contributing to reduce seasonality and to maintain tourist employment in the off-season (European Union, 2010).

In June 2010, the Commission published its political framework for tourism incorporating the recommendations of the Madrid Declaration. The actions promoting tourism were grouped under four headings as follows:

1. Stimulate competitiveness in the European tourism sector;
2. Promote the development of sustainable, responsible and high-quality tourism;
3. Consolidate the image and profile of Europe as a collection of sustainable and high quality destinations;
4. Maximise the potential of EU financial policies and instruments for developing tourism (European Commission, 2010).

In 2011 the Committee on Transport and Tourism Committee produced a tourism framework containing eighty proposals, all of which were adopted by a resolution of the Parliament on September 27 , 2011. Three of the most interesting proposals within the report contain the recommendation that:

• The Commission’ s structure for tourism should be strengthened;
• Greater emphasis on tourism research and development was needed;
• Tourism should get subsidies from the Structural Funds to help it rehabilitate declining areas.

It was intended that various policy initiatives impacting on tourism from other areas such as transport, internal market and rural development would be better co-ordinated. Obstacles to opportunities for growth related to new emerging markets would be reduced. There would be an increased emphasis on innovation, research and communication technologies to drive the sector’s competitiveness. In short, a new political structure was to be put in place to support the tourisms sector’s competitiveness and a financial structure to underpin would it was hoped, be put in place by 2014.

Upon taking her functions, Commissioner Bienkowska set out 8 priorities for the future European strategy. These priorities include:

1. Streamlining the regulatory and administrative framework impacting tourism;
2. Digitalization of tourism SMEs- building on the Digital Single Market initiative;
3. Upgrading skills and competences across the tourism sector;
4. Promoting sustainable tourism, among other through the adoption of a European Charter for Sustainable and Responsible Tourism;
5. Promoting tourism in the low and medium seasons, in particular for senior and young tourists;
6. Improvement of 'intermodality' and transport connectivity;
7. Joint promotion of Europe as a tourist destination;
8. Improvement of the governance structure both within the EU institutions and within the industry.