Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we are debating the employment potential of the tourist industry today, which the Commission appears at last to have recognised. It is important, long overdue, and in fact still does not go far enough. I cannot shake off the feeling that we have been going round in circles for years. Things are certain to be different in future, with the new Commission, although I could have hoped for a little more enthusiasm on the part of the competent Commissioner. I have been personally involved in tourism competence discussions for Europe since the beginning of the 90s. Time after time it was a roller-coaster ride of glimmers of hope one minute – as occurred at the Council for tourism and employment in 1997– and disappointments the next – the Council and Commission’s dismissive attitude towards including a tourism article in the Treaty for example. Many of the things the Commission offers in its communication by way of follow-up measures to the assessments and recommendations produced by the High level Group for tourism and employment, are not new, for the European Parliament has been making the same demands for years now. It is just a shame that expert opinions count for more than the views of the Members of this Parliament. Particularly when we bear in mind the current, underlying attitude towards Europe prevalent amongst the citizens of the EU Member States, and the lack of a sense of European identity felt by our people, as Vaclav Havel pointed out most forcibly yesterday, employment potential is only one side of the tourism coin. The other side is the potential it has to help build a European sense of identity, which is so important to Europe’s continued existence. We are still awaiting a communication from the Commission on this. Yes, we must watch out – Europe faces fierce competition. Whilst we have experienced a 10% drop in our world-wide market share over the last few years, south-east Asia, Australia and New Zealand in particular are experiencing a travel boom. Of the 120 million new jobs that are expected to be created worldwide, the World Travel and Tourism Council only expects 2% of them to be in Europe. Is that not an alarming thought? For tourism does not just have an important economic role to play, it also contributes towards international understanding. Any one that truly gets to know and understand the countries and people of Europe from personal travel experiences is simply not going to turn to nationalism at a later stage. All forms of tourism help to build mutual trust and gradually break down prejudice, arrogance, mistrust and scepticism. They increase people’s willingness to accept one another and counteract what appears to be a decline in tolerance in people’s dealings with one another. That is precisely why it is in our own interests, whilst adhering strictly to the principle of subsidiarity, to stimulate, coordinate and promote tourism, and to do so by creating optimum framework conditions and using a reliable database. I would like to congratulate the rapporteur on his excellent report, which I unreservedly endorse. Let us hope that it is not just a paper exercise, as was the case before.

Political group: PPE-DE