WRITTEN QUESTION E-3094/98

by Angela Sierra González (GUE/NGL) , Pedro Marset Campos (GUE/NGL) and Laura González Álvarez (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(16 October 1998)

Subject: Sustainable tourism policies in the EU

Initiatives in support of a sustainable model of tourist development are coming into being in many European regions. They include initiatives for sustainable development in islands, local agenda 21 programmes for tourist sites and the sustainable tourism charter adopted at the Lanzarote world conference organised by Unesco in 1995.

It seems necessary for the European Union, which is one of the world's main tourist destinations as well as a major source of tourists, to draw up, through the Commission, strategies to improve tourist areas in the Community, particularly those associated with "mass tourism".

Among other things, a policy should be drawn up with the aim of preserving natural resources as much as possible in the face of tourist development, making tourist activities compatible in areas of great natural value and beauty, drawing up guidelines for the "load capacity" of tourist destinations, etc.

Has the Commission considered the possibility of promoting sustainable tourism policy initiatives in the EU, bearing in mind the importance of this sector of the economy, its implications for regional planning and its growing competitiveness at international level?

Answer given by Mr Papoutsis on behalf of the Commission

(7 December 1998)

In accordance with the obligation to integrate the environment into Community policies, the Commission is analysing the strategy which is needed to implement this requirement in the area of tourism.

The Commission is also awaiting the approval by the Council of a first multiannual programme for European tourism(1) that considers, among other aims, the promotion of sustainable tourism through integrated strategic planning and of the different policies, programmes and initiatives that contribute to their development. Integrated quality management in tourist destinations favours a general approach towards all sectors that affect the development of tourism, including the proper management of natural resources.

The Commission in 1997 launched three studies on the integrated management of quality in coastal, rural and urban tourist destinations. These studies aim to identify and analyse best practice in integrated quality management within the countries of the European economic area and to contribute to the exchange of experiences and the transfer of knowledge within Europe, serving as a guide both for the public sector (in particular local authorities) and for the private sector (in particular tourist companies). The results will be available in the first half of 1999.

The Commission is conscious of the scarce information on the environmental impact of tourism on a Community scale. The Commission is already working, in an initial phase, on the preparation of indicators for the sustainable development of transport and energy and is actively participating in OECD discussions on environmental indicators in agriculture. The Commission is considering the possibility of tackling, in a second phase, the preparation of sustainable development indicators for tourism.

(1) COM(96) 635 final.