WRITTEN QUESTION E-2701/01

by Mario Mauro (PPE-DE) to the Council

(4 October 2001)

Subject: Sustainable tourism policy in the European Union

The European Union is one of the world's major tourist destinations.

In 1997 the Commission initiated three studies on integrated quality management in rural, urban and coastal tourist destinations. These studies are aimed at identifying and analysing best practice in integrated quality management in countries belonging to the European Economic Area and contributing to exchanges of information and knowledge transfer within Europe and serving as a guide to the public sector, in particular local authorities, and the private sector, in particular tourist companies. These studies were also intended to constitute a first step towards preparing sustainable development indicators for the tourist industry (beyond the transport and energy sectors).

It would in fact be desirable to develop a policy aimed at preserving as far as possible resources and all forms of environment (ecological, landscape, archaeological) from the impact of the tourist industry, guaranteeing compatibility between tourist activities and the protection of areas of great natural beauty and biological value and drawing up directives, e.g. on the load capacity of tourist destinations.

In this connection, will the Council state whether it is about to draw up a strategy for the improvement of Community tourist areas, as announced?

Has the Council considered the possibility of promoting initiatives to support sustainable tourism in the European Union, taking due account of the economic importance of this sector, as well as its impact on regional planning and increasing international competition?

Reply

(12 February 2002)

The attention of the Honourable Member is drawn to the work carried out by the Council to date on the issue of sustainable development in the field of tourism.

At its meeting on 21 June 1999, the Council adopted conclusions on tourism and employment in which it recognised the significant role of the European Tourism Industry in the economy and the need to improve its competitiveness on the basis of balanced and sustainable development and environmental protection, and called on the Commission and the Member States to pursue their work, in particular on the question of environmental protection and sustainable development in tourism.

As part of its follow-up to these conclusions, the Commission has coordinated proceedings of experts meeting in working groups, one of which has focused on the promotion of environmental protection and sustainable development in tourism.

At its meeting on 30 November 2000, the Council took note of the proceedings of the seminar organised by the French Presidency in Lille on 22 November 2000 on Tourism and Sustainable Development. These proceedings were summarised in a Presidency note, which identified a number of common concerns among the delegations including, in particular, the desire to encourage a tourism policy committed to sustainable development and to the well-being of the European Union's inhabitants, mindful of their values and diversity. In its note the Presidency also recommended continuing the work of the Advisory Committee, particularly in relation to setting up a network of pilot areas to share experiences on the sustainable development of tourism and to disseminate good regional planning practice with the aim of fostering the emergence of a European tourism strategy.

Furthermore, it should be noted that the Commission is currently preparing a communication entitled Framing the Future for European Tourism. This communication will be presented at a forthcoming meeting of the Internal Market Council and may very well address some of the issues raised by the Honourable Member in his question. In any event, the communication will be forwarded to the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions.