European Parliament resolution on new prospects and new challenges for sustainable European tourism (2004/2229(INI))
Date: 2005-09-08
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: EU policy, sustainable development, tourism, tourism policy

17.8.2006

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Thursday 8 September 2005

15.
Believes that the damage caused by recent events further emphasises that mitigation will be much less
costly than the consequences of global warming; recognises also that many of the policies required to stop
dangerous climate change will offer win-win situations in terms of reducing oil dependency, improving air
quality and generating savings;

16.
Calls for forest policy at Union level to be reinforced by giving it greater weight in the multifunc-
tional role of European agriculture, with a twofold aim: maintenance and employment of the rural popu-
lation and determined, substantial expansion of forested areas;

Calls on the Commission to include as an eligible expense within the appropriate financial instru-
including aircraft, to prevent and combat

17.
ments the possibility of cofinancing for technical equipment,
forest fires;

Calls for more stringent penalties for criminal acts that degrade the environment, particularly those

18.
connected with starting forest fires;

Calls, over and above town planning measures which prevent speculation on land burned by forest
19.
fires, for other types of measures to be adopted to make repopulation of the affected areas and proper
upkeep of forests by owners compulsory;

20.
Calls on the Commission to step up research resources for flood prevention and coordinate the
research already carried out in individual Member States in this area, in order to arrive as soon as possible
at a coherent energy and transport policy in the area of risk prevention;

Undertakes, for its part, to take all necessary steps to ensure that a medium and long-term, future-

21.
oriented, preventive strategy on forest fires is adopted at Community level;

22.

Calls on the Conference of Presidents:

— to authorise the drawing up of an own-initiative report on fires, droughts and floods by the Committee
on Regional Development, the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development and the Committee
on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety on the basis of a cooperation procedure;

— to organise a joint hearing on fires, droughts, and floods;

— to authorise an official visit to the areas of central and southern Europe affected by natural disasters this

summer;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments of

23.
the Member States affected by the fires and the local authorities in the affected areas.

P6_TA(2005)0335

Basic guidelines for sustainable European tourism

European Parliament resolution on new prospects and new challenges for sustainable European
tourism (2004/2229(INI))

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the Commission Communication of 21 November 2003 on basic orientations for the

sustainability of European tourism (COM(2003)0716),

— having regard to the Council Resolution of 21 May 2002 on the future of European tourism (1),

(1) OJ C 135, 6.6.2002, p. 1.

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— having regard to its resolution of 14 May 2002 on working together for the future of European tour-

ism (1),

— having regard to Rule 45 of its Rules of Procedure,

— having regard to the report of the Committee on Transport and Tourism and the opinion of the Com-

mittee on Culture and the Committee on Regional Development (A6-0235/2005),

A. whereas Europe is the world's leading tourist destination; whereas tourist and travel services contribute
directly — at a rate of at least 4 % — to the EU's GDP and account directly for more than seven million
jobs; whereas more than two million businesses, a large majority of which are small and medium-sized
enterprises (SMEs), are directly involved in providing tourist services,

B. whereas the enlargement of the Union to include new Member States with high tourist potential will
further contribute to bolstering the sector's economic weight and its importance to European growth;
whereas the expansion of tourism in the new Member States should contribute to their growth at a rate
of 3 % of GDP and to the creation of three million jobs,

C. whereas demographic trends in the EU show a gradual ageing of the population, a fact which will imply
in the future a broader tourist market for senior citizens interested in seasonal long stay destinations
and in low season travel, particularly in the south, which will have effects on social and health services
and on the property market,

D. whereas intra-European tourism also contributes to an awareness of European cultures and heritages
and, on this basis, strengthens EU citizens' sense of sharing a common identity and a common destiny,

E. whereas tourism does not at present constitute a Community policy and, by virtue of the principle of

subsidiarity, primarily comes within the remit of the Member States,

F. whereas tourism is nevertheless affected by many policies which do come under the Community's remit
and that means that it should be given greater consideration at EU level, yet, in spite of the various
actions undertaken, it does not receive attention commensurate with its importance,

G. whereas, while tourism contributes directly to development, it can also affect the sustainability factors
of interregional cohesion and balances, which means that the Union's policies must be adequately coor-
dinated by means of coherent and integrated programmes,

H. whereas tourism is helping to create an internal demand for quality services which could contribute to
a sharp upturn in the European economy; whereas tourism at European level and the services provided
by European operators should constitute a global reference in terms of quality, safety, enjoyment and
consumer rights, thereby increasing the sector's competitiveness,

I. whereas sustainable tourism is aimed at reducing the impact of tourism on resources and generating
material and non-material benefits throughout the Community, as well as stimulating an ongoing pro-
cess of improvement of the areas concerned and the infrastructure in which tourist development is to
take place,

Competitiveness and quality of services

Notes that tourism is of vital

1.
information technologies; notes that it is therefore at the heart of the Lisbon process;

importance to growth, employment and new communication and

Points out that tourism is one of the economic sectors with the most potential for growth and for job
2.
creation, in particular for young people and women; stresses also that it is made up of activities involving a
wide range of labour-intensive types of production, providing jobs for a wide variety of occupational pro-
files both as regards the type of employment and the level of specialisation;

(1) OJ C 180 E, 31.7.2003, p. 138.

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3.
Notes that, while tourism has reached excessive proportions in certain regions, placing a dispropor-
tionate strain on the local populace and environment, other regions have large underdeveloped tourist
potential;

Thursday 8 September 2005

Observes that, at international

4.
level, tourism is extremely competitive, the market shares held by
European tourist operators are increasingly vulnerable, and Europe's position at world level is under threat;

5.
Points out that the economic growth and development of markets such as Brazil, China, India and
Russia will create significant additional demand and European tourism sectors and industry need to be well
positioned to meet this demand;

6.
Emphasises the importance of ensuring that European regulations on the one hand protect consumers
and on the other help to create an environment conducive to the success of the European tourist sector, in
particular by promoting quality services;

7.
Considers it vitally important to complete the internal market in tourist services and to achieve genu-
ine equality of treatment between tourist operators; proposes, to this end, a Community-wide classification
of tourist services, with the cooperation of the industry, to be used in particular for the classification of
hotel facilities; also considers that measures should be taken in order to identify clearly and to harmonise
professional profiles in the tourist industry in order to avoid unnecessary duplication and guarantee a more
transparent service that does not confuse users;

8.
Calls on the Council to restart work on the proposed revision of the Council Directive amending
Directive 77/388/EEC as regards the special scheme for travel agents (COM(2002)0064); reiterates its sup-
port for the objectives of simplifying this special VAT scheme and maintaining the competitive position of
operators established in the European Union vis-à-vis operators from third countries; calls on the Council
urgently to conclude the decision-making process on the proposal for a Council Directive amending Direc-
tive 77/388/EEC as regards reduced rates of value added tax (COM(2003)0397), so as to enable all Member
States to apply in a structured way reduced VAT rates for restaurants, as already exist for other tourism-
related activities, such as holiday accommodation, plots on campsites, hotels and amusement parks;

Undertakes to support any Commission proposal to promote craft industry SMEs, such as one regard-

9.
ing registered designations of origin for non-food craft products;

10.
Points out that the development of farm holidays is vitally important to achieving the objectives of
the CAP reform wherever farmers wish to promote accommodation and hospitality services to improve
farm incomes, ensure that farmers remain in the area, protect the countryside and maintain the cultural
identity of the agricultural environment through the promotion of local traditions and regional food and
wine products;

11.
Recalls the need to work with all types of partnership such as that with the European Centre for the
Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP) to promote employment, training and occupational skills in
tourism in order to offer genuine career prospects to professional operators, reduce the adverse effects of
the instability of the seasonal workforce and guarantee a quality of services in tune with new trends and the
increasing expectations of consumers; recalls likewise the desirability of strengthening the presence of the
tourism sector in the development of European programmes for teacher and student mobility in the field of
both vocational training and university study, placing particular emphasis on supporting specific lifelong
training programmes adapted to workers' circumstances;

12.
Stresses the importance of training in the tourist industry and hence the need to promote the bal-
anced and sustainable development of tourism by means of vocational training and further training leading
to qualifications for those employed in this sector, thereby further improving existing services;

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13.
Calls on the Commission to assess whether it might be possible to create a specific training network
for the tourist sector within Community programmes which are already operating (Erasmus) so as to be able
to interact with measures to promote employment and to link up training bodies;

14.
Believes that consumer rights in the tourism sector should be defined and better protected and that
this should include identifying new forms of protection such as conciliation services for tourists; calls on the
Commission and the groups concerned to promote the representativeness at European level of bodies rep-
resenting tourists as consumers; also calls on the Commission to consider the drafting of a ‘tourism pack-
age’ comprising both a review of the existing directives on consumers' rights with regard to tourism (1) and
new measures making it possible to improve consumer protection and quality standards in tourist services
(particularly in the hotel and touring sectors) while taking account of new trends on the supply side (elec-
tronic sales);

15.
Insists on the need for better coordination between Member States on the conditions of entry of
third country nationals to EU territory so as to ensure a convergent approach towards tourist flows and
their movement within the EU;

Safety and security of tourism

Calls on the Commission and the Member States to set up a contact group at European level invol-
16.
ving the Member States and tour operators in order to coordinate information on the management of health
crises, natural disasters or acts of terrorism as well as problems of personal, legal and criminal insecurity
(arrest, kidnapping, and so on) and on the basis of recent crisis assessments to put forward measures to
ensure a rapid and coordinated response for the protection of European tourists and for the support of
operators affected by such events;

17.
Calls on the Commission to evaluate the effectiveness of the Council Recommendation on fire safety
in hotels (2) (Report from the Commission on application of the Council Recommendation of 22 December
1986 on fire safety in existing hotels) (COM(2001)0348) and to promote at EU level voluntary standards
concerning measures to improve the safety aspects of tourism services, including those relating to European
camp sites and guide services for adventurous or dangerous trips or activities; calls on the Commission, if
necessary, to submit a new proposal;

18.
Notes the large proportion of women employed in the tourist sector and stresses accordingly the
need not only for policies to promote training, opportunities, prospects and appropriate working conditions
for female employees, but also positive measures to promote business initiatives by women in this sector;

19.
Takes the view that the Commission should coordinate the establishment of a network for good
practice exchange between high risk sports and leisure organisations and the provision of information on
risk prevention and management, in particular for young people; calls on the Commission, in this context,
investigate the desirability of requiring the maximum possible transparency and professionalism from com-
panies managing this type of high risk leisure activity, asking that they take out compulsory care insurance;

20.
Calls on the Commission to work with the Member States to improve the operation and awareness
of the European emergency number 112 for the benefit of all citizens but in particular for tourists, having
regard to the linguistic, technical and rapid response aspects of providing the 112 services;

New sustainable tourism activities

21. Welcomes the Commission's proposals on sustainable tourism in its communication on basic orien-
tations for the sustainability of European tourism (COM(2003)0716);

Considers tourism to be a means of promoting environmental resources which can highlight its

22.
conservation and protection aspects;

(1) Directive 90/314/EEC on package travel (OJ L 158, 23.6.1990, p. 59) and Directive 94/47/EC on the right to use

immovable properties on a timeshare basis (OJ L 280, 29.10.1994, p. 83).

(2) OJ L 384, 31.12.1986, p. 60.

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23.
Highlights of the dangers of mass tourism which, in terms of the uncontrolled growth of transport
and reception capacities and of seasonal fluxes, represents a threat to local natural and socio-economic
balances; calls on the Commission,
in this context, to study and report on the effectiveness of certain
formulae already being applied (such as moratoria) or of other new formulae to tackle and offset these
imbalances; calls on the Commission to put initiatives which can remedy the current imbalance between
destinations which have reached maximum congestion levels and others which receive little publicity and
yet are of major environmental, or historical and artistic significance, situated in the same tourist region;

24.
Notes that, in regions with brief and intensive tourist seasons and slack off-seasons, employment
levels in this sector fluctuate sharply, making it difficult to provide services of a consistently high quality;
is of the opinion that efforts must therefore be made to provide more sustainable and consistent services;
calls on the Commission to consider means of offsetting the under deployment of manpower, capital and
services arising from the seasonal nature of work in this sector;

25.
Calls on the Commission therefore to endeavour to coordinate national holiday arrangements so as
to even out the burden on access routes and tourist infrastructures and achieve a more efficient and sustain-
able deployment of human resources by reducing seasonal fluctuations in employment levels;

Stresses the need for all parties in the sector to take steps to capture new demand outside the high
26.
season, to spread visits over the year and to make better use of hotel and accommodation facilities; for that
purpose, points to the positive repercussions of conference and business tourism, medical and thermal
tourism, commemorative tourism, cultural
tourism in every shape and form, gastronomic, naturalist,
sports-based, spiritual, historical and language-related tourism, religious tourism, social tourism and so on;

27.
Stresses the need to create services for management and redistribution, in terms of time and space of
tourist flows, including measures aimed at tourist mobility wherever destinations are congested and near
maximum capacity;

28.
Also considers that the gradual ageing of the population will lead to an increase in the number of
off-season tourists; calls on the Commission to encourage the development of senior citizens' tourism
within the European Union as well as cooperation between the Member States in this area, giving priority
to exchanges between, and reception of, groups of senior citizens from other countries outside the peak
season; considers that this action should be seen as an opportunity to establish greater North-South coop-
eration; call on the Commission to launch a low-season ‘third-age’ tourism programme, which will help to
improve the quality of life of senior citizens, create jobs and generate demand and growth in the European
economy; suggests that this programme might be named ‘Ulysses’;

29.
Notes that every European citizen has a right to be a tourist and that appropriate action should
in this
therefore be taken to ensure that categories of users with special needs can exercise that right;
connection, invites the Commission to put forward a similar initiative to make tourist and leisure establish-
ments, facilities, services and itineraries accessible to people with reduced mobility, and to ensure that they
receive sufficient publicity; stresses also the importance of taking appropriate action to train those employed
in the reception of and provision of assistance to elderly and disabled tourists and the need to help to
prepare and distribute tourism advertisements to which these various categories of users will have access;

Recognises the contribution of itinerant tourism, such as touring caravanning,

30.
in mitigating the
negative effects of mass tourism by dispersing concentrations of tourists; stresses the need to promote
measures aimed at contributing to its development,
in particular by remedying the lack of appropriate
facilities for parking and providing multifunctional sites and storage facilities for caravans and motor cara-
vans throughout the Community;

31. Welcomes the initiative announced by the Commission on the implementation of an Agenda 21 for
European tourism; recommends that this programme be aimed, above all, at guiding and supporting, by
means of sustainable tourism indicators, the implementation of local Agenda 21s and coordinating action in
Member States with a view to good practice exchange in the field of sustainable tourism;

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32. Welcomes the setting up of the public-private partnership made possible by the Sustainable Tourism
Group; wishes to be involved and informed of the group's work and the progress thereof with a view to the
elaboration of Agenda 21 with a view to European sustainable tourism; asserts that participation by organi-
sations from this sector in the analysis, planning, monitoring and evaluation of policy at various levels in
the tourist sector must be a fundamental and guiding principle;

33.
Stresses the fundamental role played by education in promoting responsible tourism; calls on the
Commission to ensure that its programmes after 2006 focus even more on educational exchange, appren-
ticeship and volunteer programmes to make young people aware of the local cultures and heritage of
regions in which they are to be holidaying or staying, so as to encourage civic tourism, which respects
local people and their communities; recommends that the Commission also encourage the process of
acquisition and transfer of knowledge and innovations between tourist undertakings;

In the same context of the demand for responsible tourism, reiterates its call to the Commission and
34.
the Member States to apply dissuasive penalties to agencies and hotel chains which encourage sexual tour-
ism and child exploitation;

Considers that the tourism industry occupies a key place in the economic development of countries
35.
in the Mediterranean basin and is a vector for rapprochement in the cultural dialogue; calls for consideration
to be given to the possibility of setting up a training exchange programme for people working in tourism in
the Mediterranean regions, within the framework of the Barcelona process;

36.
Emphasises the need for a well-balanced standard of eco-labelling in the field of sustainable tourism
and supports further initiatives that contribute to better inclusion of local social and economic concerns,
climate protection, respect for the local natural environment, energy saving, water and waste management,
sustainable intermodal mobility chains etc.;

37.
Calls on the Commission to encourage measures to ensure that the specific question of sustainability
is included in training and further training courses in the tourist sector; supports the initiative ‘how to set
up a tourism learning area’ and calls for it to be further developed;

38.
Calls on the Commission and the Member States to place tourism high on the agenda of employ-
ment strategies and priority measures to assist the underprivileged, given the major impetus it provides for
the economy and the employment market in Europe;

Knowledge and promotion of European tourism

39. Welcomes the action taken by the Commission to promote the implementation of reliable, harmon-
ised macroeconomic data (tourism satellite accounts) required to strengthen the identity of Community
tourism; calls on the Member States to pursue their efforts on this issue, and on the Commission to propose
an amendment of Council Directive 95/57/EC of 23 November 1995 on the collection of statistical
information in the field of tourism (1), to include a framework for tourism satellite accounting;

40.
Stresses the need to introduce co-ordination of the new Member States' tourism operators and public
bodies into the networks and structures which exist at European level, with a particular view to fully
associating them, by means of exchanges of experience and good practice, with the tourist destinations of
the older Member States;

41.
Calls on the Commission and the Member States to assess the possibility of a scheme, along the lines
of the European Capital of Culture initiative, to designate outstanding European tourist destinations, to allow
one or more regions or micro-regions to be selected yearly on the basis of quality indicators linked to the
preservation and upgrading of cultural and natural heritage and the development of sustainable tourist
services; accordingly, calls on the Commission and the Member States to study the desirability of proposing
an EU tourism mark or destination, characterised by tremendous diversity and high social quality and
sustainability, and to promote it both within and outside the EU through a suitable communication cam-
paign;

42.
Points out that preserving the cultural heritage (in particular that which is designated world heritage
by UNESCO) is of major importance to the sustainable development of tourism in the EU; calls upon the
Commission to make more money available for preserving the cultural heritage;

(1) OJ L 291, 6.12.1995, p. 32.

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Calls on the Commission and the Member States to create the ‘Iron Curtain Trail’, an initiative
43.
analogous to the ‘Boston Freedom Trail’ in remembrance of the American Independence War or to the
‘Berliner Mauerweg’ in remembrance of the construction and fall of the Berlin Wall, in order to promote
European identity;

44. Welcomes the Innovating Regions in Europe (IRE) initiative which makes it possible to develop a
good practice exchange network in the field of innovative regional initiatives; calls on the Commission
specifically to identify tourism within the framework of the IRE network and to promote sustainable tour-
ism pilot projects to be supported by the European Union;

45.
Invites the Commission, with a view to boosting the Community's contribution to the sustainability
of European tourism, to help to promote and foster pilot projects such as the ‘Green Card’ scheme in the
Balearic Islands, since such projects constitute good practice and show that it is possible to create new
formulae to achieve a balance between the development of the tourism industry and the protection of the
environment;

46.
Supports actions to promote Europe as a destination at world level by means of a European Tourism
Portal accessible to European tourists and those from the main non-European tourist source countries; urges
the Commission, the European Travel Commission (ETC) and the project's other partners to promote the
information (the practical guide ‘Travelling in Europe’) and data on common
putting online of general
tourism resources and subjects (gastronomy, hill walking, island tourism, health cures, church/cultural tour-
ism, conference and business tourism, and so on); proposes likewise that access to national portals from the
European portal be facilitated by means of a harmonised thematic link page;

47.
Notes that, given the new framework for assessing tourist activities and the challenges of the enlarged
Europe, it is even more necessary to achieve effective coordination and cooperation between the public and
private sector not only at local or national level but also at European level, this being essential in order to
achieve sustainable policies and practices,
improved investment and greater competitivity between the
Member States;

48. Welcomes any kind of initiative which brings the people of Europe closer together through tourism,
such as European rural, social or cultural tourism networks and itineraries, and calls for them to be made
better known through the media;

Tourism and transport

49.
Recalls that transport is essential to tourism, especially in the case of island regions and the most
remote regions in general, both as a contribution to the quality of the tourist services chain and in terms of
the accessibility of destinations;

Emphasises the need to promote combined train and bicycle travel and considers the ‘Eurovelo’
50.
network to be a good basis for this; also requests that railway enterprises allow bicycles on trains, including
long distance and cross-border trains, as is already the case with the French TGV;

51.
Urges national and regional authorities to stimulate inland waterway tourism by seeing to it that
recreational waterway networks are provided and maintained in Europe, on the basis of internationally
agreed classifications;

52. Welcomes the Commission's initiative to establish state-aid guidelines for regional airports and low-
cost companies, so as to improve legal certainty and ensure fair competition in favour of tourist accessibility
and regional development; recalls nevertheless that with a view to the goal of sustainability, steps should be
taken to ensure that the development of low-cost airlines is supervised, so as to avoid a proliferation of air
links to specific regions or neighbouring regions, and on the contrary develop to the full the interconnec-
tion of air transport and collective land transport;

53. Welcomes the Commission's proposal in respect of air carriers' identification and the planned exten-
sion of passenger information arrangements beyond air transport; furthermore, hopes for a specific Com-
mission initiative laying down safety standards and monitoring procedures applicable to small carriers,
minor airlines and secondary airports; considers that, in any case, the activities of the European Aviation
Safety Agency must be stepped up and that coordination with the Member States' authorities must be
improved;

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Stresses likewise the importance to making tourist services attractive of promoting integrated ticket-

54.
ing systems;

55. Welcomes likewise the Commission's initiative on making air transport accessible to people with
reduced mobility, whose share of tourist demand is growing; stresses the importance of making provisions
for extending such measures to land passenger transport;

Structural intervention co-funded by the Community

56.
Recalls that tourism plays a real role in regional development and diversification, particularly in rural
and island areas; recalls that projects should be co-funded on the basis of an integrated approach, bringing
together all the resources which contribute to the quality of services to users and to the success of the
destinations, with a view to the economic viability of these projects, particularly by means of quality pub-
lic-private partnerships;

57. Welcomes the way in which tourism is taken into account through the convergence objective and the
action in rural areas set out in the new proposal for a European Parliament and Council Regulation on the
European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) (COM(2004)0495); calls likewise for the proposal's regional
competitiveness objective to benefit tourism SMEs; welcomes the goal of encouraging tourist activities found
in the Proposal for a Council Regulation on supporting rural development by the European Agricultural
Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) (COM(2004)0490), by diversifying the rural economy;

58.
Calls on the Commission and Council, when adopting the new structural policy instruments for
2007-2013, to ensure that the strategic guidelines provide for an integrated approach to tourism, allowing
the EAFRD and the ERDF actions to be coordinated in a spirit similar to that of the LEADER programme
and the Interreg and Urban programmes. This approach should allow the implementation of a genuine
regional strategy for sustainable tourism;

59.
Calls on the Member States to establish objectives within their national strategic frameworks and
operating programmes which will enable the regions to set up and fund coherent projects for developing
sustainable tourism, tailor-made to local conditions and possibilities, including partnerships between differ-
ent areas and institutions so as to build up appropriate local tourist systems;

60.
Calls also on the Member States to cover the tourist issue by means of ex ante, in itinere and ex post
assessments of projects financed by Community funds, piloted by national thematic groups for tourism on
the basis of criteria and indicators reflecting the economic viability and sustainability of the projects
planned;

Calls on the Commission to draw up a mid-term global assessment report on the involvement of
61.
Community tourism-linked programmes and the total impact thereof on the quality of the tourism products
on offer and the sustainable development of European destinations;

62.
Calls for the setting up of support mechanisms for the public at large and for SMEs and local auth-
orities in particular which present and analyse the conditions for implementing and using Structural Fund
programmes and other Community actions (culture, environment, and so on) that contribute to the quality
of tourism;

Stresses that, while tourism is a policy which falls within the competence of the Member States,
63.
cross-border initiatives which demand social cooperation, and which bind regions together (church/cultural
tourism, pilgrimages, water tourism and so on) need support in the context of the Interreg programme;

Calls on the Commission to create a sufficient budget line in the light of the tourist sector's import-

64.
ance for the European economy;

Tourism and coordinating Community legislation

65.
Asks that any draft secondary legislation which has an impact on the tourist sector be identified at
the outset of the implementation of the Commission's work programme, and be subject to an impact
assessment, with the involvement of bodies representing industry, employees and consumers; asks also that
there be a report on the implementation of these measures on the tourist sector; asks that these ex ante and
ex post assessments be systematically forwarded to Parliament;

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66.
Asks likewise that within the framework of the interservices consultations within the Commission,
the interests of the sector and the goals of sustainable tourism set out in the Commission's communication
be taken into account;

Calls on the Commission to consider setting up a network of tourism correspondents/ coordinators
67.
in all Commission Directorates whose remit affects tourism activities (Enterprises and Industry, Regional
Policy, Environment, Agriculture and Rural Development, Energy and Transport, Internal Market and Ser-
vices, and so on), which could be coordinated by the department in charge of tourism within the Enterprise
and Industry DG;

Tourism in the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe

68. Welcomes the insertion of a specific section on tourism (Section 4, Article III-281) in the Treaty
establishing a Constitution for Europe; believes that this legal basis will make more consistent support
action possible, and that it will be given extra weight by the full involvement of the European Parliament
in the adoption of legislative measures;

Calls on the Commission to work together with its main institutional partners and the sector's
69.
representative bodies on the various avenues of action to encourage the development of an environment
more favourable to business competitiveness and coordination between Member States; calls on the Com-
mission to propose, from 2007, the implementation of a multiannual action plan (‘tourism package’) to
strengthen the consistency of Union action on tourism by bringing together the Member States and their
regional local authorities, in accordance with the principles of good governance;

70.
Calls on the Commission to include tourism among the principal guidelines and priorities for coop-
eration with partner countries in the context of European initiatives to promote neighbourly relations, for
example the Euro-Mediterranean partnership arrangements;

71.

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and Commission.

*

*

*

P6_TA(2005)0336

European Schools

European Parliament resolution on options for developing the European Schools system (2004/
2237(INI))

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parlia-

ment on options for developing the European Schools system (COM(2004)0519),

— having regard to the Convention defining the Statute of the European Schools (1),

— having regard to its resolution of 17 December 2002 on the financing of the European Schools (2),

— having regard to the annual report of the Secretary General of the European Schools to the Board of

Governors meeting in Brussels on 1-2 February 2005 (3),

— having regard to Rule 45 of its Rules of Procedure,

— having regard to the report of the Committee on Culture and Education and the opinion of the Com-

mittee on Budgets (A6-0200/2005),

(1) OJ L 212, 17.08.1994, p. 3.
(2) OJ C 31 E, 5.2.2004, p. 91.
(3) Document 1612-D-2004-en-1; http://www.eursc.org/SE/htmlEn/IndexEn_home.html