WRITTEN QUESTION E-0966/98

by Nikitas Kaklamanis (UPE) to the Commission

(30 March 1998)

Subject: Small and medium-sized tourist undertakings and the euro

At the part-session in March 1998 the European Parliament adopted the Torres Marques report (A4-0078/98) on the euro and tourism.

Small and medium-sized undertakings are, of course, the backbone of the tourist sector, especially in the southern countries of the European Union. However, funding for tourism is deemed wholly inadequate for the development of this sector, and if tourist SMUs are to adjust successfully to the euro they will clearly need additional funds.

Will the Commission say:

1. Does it intend to adopt special programmes to fund the development of tourist SMUs in order to shelter them as far as possible from the turmoil caused by the introduction of the new currency?

2. Is there any scope - for example, in the Community cross-border programme, Interreg, or other initiatives - for funding tourist undertakings in areas bordering on the future "euro zone" which will obviously be in a particularly difficult situation as soon as the single currency is introduced?

Answer given by Mr de Silguy on behalf of the Commission

(20 May 1998)

The Commission pays close attention to the situation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which account for a large part of the tourist industry. In order to assist SMEs with their preparations, it will continue to make available documentation and information adapted to their requirements, e.g. through Euro Info Centres. Acting with the Commission's assistance, the Association for the Monetary Union of Europe has already produced various guides to help businesses, and SMEs in particular, to prepare for the introduction of the euro. A study of the practical consequences the transition to the euro will have for SMEs, including those in the tourist industry, is being prepared on behalf of the Commission. The Commission has also set up a working party to organise a seminar for October 1998 which will focus on providing guidance for and specific practical solutions to difficulties the tourist industry may encounter in connection with the introduction of the euro. Against this background, the Commission intends to launch pilot actions introducing the euro in the tourist industry in 1999.

The recommendations on practical aspects of the introduction of the euro recently adopted by the Commission include provisions dealing specifically with SMEs in view of the specific difficulties confronting them identified by the advisory working party.

The Commission is not establishing a special programme to fund SMEs in connection with the introduction of the euro. Nevertheless, it should be borne in mind that the provisions on joint European ventures and the SME guarantee facility in the proposal for a Council Decision on measures of financial assistance for innovative and job-creating small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)(1) apply to SMEs in the tourist industry.

In addition, the measures provided for in the multiannual programme adopted for SMEs by Council Decision 97/15/EC of 9 December 1996(2) apply to SMEs in the tourist industry.

(1) COM(98) 26 final.

(2) OJ L 6, 10.1.1997.