Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, tourism is one of the most important economic and social sectors of the European Union in terms of the wealth it generates, in terms of the jobs it creates and in terms of its essential contribution to preserving Europe’s cultural and historical heritage. It is also a sector that is crucial to achieving full employment in the European Union, a goal laid down at the Lisbon Summit, and is also fundamental to regional policy, through stimulating growth and employment in less developed areas, especially in Europe’s peripheral and outermost regions. Europe is still the most popular tourist region in the world and the potential of this sector, especially following the planned enlargement of the European Union, is immense. Nevertheless, major debates on tourism are rarely held in this Parliament. I therefore congratulate Commissioner Erkki Liikanen and his staff on having given us this opportunity. I also wish to thank the draftsmen of the opinions for this report for their contributions, the majority of which were voted for by the Committee on Regional Policy, Transport and Tourism, thereby adding value to this report. Europe has a historical and cultural heritage and a diversity and density of tourist attractions that make it the most visited region in the world. This means that we can expect the volume of European tourism to double in the next twenty to twenty-five years, bringing a net benefit in terms of expenditure and profits of the order of 3% per year. Employment will grow at a rate of around 15% in the next ten years. This incredibly rich historical and cultural heritage of Europe is a crucial factor in attracting tourists, and has the advantage, in comparison with other industries, that it cannot be relocated. One of the most important factors in the growth of tourism in the next few years will be the trends in the demographic structure of the population: in twenty years’ time, the population aged over 65 will have increased by 17 million. Individuals in this age group, who will enjoy better health, a longer life expectancy and greater resources, will feel much more inclined to travel than in the past. At the same time, demand for tourism will evolve: cultural and heritage tourism will increase significantly. What is crucial, however, is that tourism has become a social right for workers and, where young people are concerned, the entire European Union has become their territory. Other factors boosting the tourist sector, such as the liberalisation of transport and the development of transport networks, the progress of the single market, particularly the reality of the single currency, and the considerable developments and outcomes of the Information Society will continue to promote mobility and the internationalisation of tourist flows. Many measures adopted by the Commission have been crucial to the development of tourism. I would mention, in particular, the free movement of persons, the removal of borders, and the creation of the single currency. A new and very important step will be taken on 1 July of this year, when the 'euro' zone becomes the domestic market and electronic cards will mean that we could just as easily be in our own countries. I think that this is a very important step in terms of European citizenship. Since tourism is so important, we call on Commissioner Erkki Liikanen to include all measures concerning tourism in his presentation of the raft of measures to be proposed for next year or which are already underway. I say this because one of the fundamental problems is that so many sectors have an impact on tourism that, unless we look at them as a whole, much of the impact, the importance and the coherence of these proposals will be lost. I think that his proposal to create a European tourism forum that will meet annually and which will include representatives of the industry and of the European Parliament is a very appropriate measure and is of the utmost importance. The idea is that we must listen to what the tourist industry has to say and find out what its needs are, to which we can then respond. Another idea that I consider to be very important is that of a Community-level programme to promote tourism in Europe. One of the factors that we have been most frequently asked to remedy and which I feel is of the utmost importance, is for the European Union’s fiscal policy to consider labour-intensive sectors such as tourism to be entitled to pay the lowest rate of VAT. Lastly, I ask Parliament, in the Convention on the future of Europe that is now under way, to approve strengthening the legal base so that Europe can develop a genuinely strong tourism policy, which is what we need.

Political group: PSE