EU Strategy for Sustainable Tourism Text Adopted by European Parliament 25 March 2021

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25 March 2021, Brussels. The Parliament voted on the INI report on Sustainable Tourism. The resolution on an EU strategy for sustainable tourism was adopted by 577 votes to 31, and 80 abstentions. It notes that the COVID-19 outbreak has paralysed the EU’s tourism sector, putting millions of jobs at risk.

EU Parliament logo25 March 2021, Brussels.  The Parliament voted on the INI report on Sustainable Tourism. The resolution on an EU strategy for sustainable tourism was adopted by 577 votes to 31, and 80 abstentions.

It notes that the COVID-19 outbreak has paralysed the EU’s tourism sector, putting millions of jobs at risk.

The text begins:

Rebuild: COVID-19 impact response plans

1.  Stresses that the COVID-19 outbreak has paralysed the EU tourism sector, putting its ecosystem under unprecedented pressure; highlights that continued short-term financial support is essential to the survival of the sector, especially in light of the second and third wave of the pandemic; believes, nonetheless, that the current crisis should lead the Commission and Member States to fully acknowledge the importance of the tourism industry, to fully integrate it into European and national development plans, to enhance the quality of its offer, to make it more sustainable and accessible for all, and to launch long-overdue public and private investment in the digitalisation and overall modernisation of the sector;

Read the full text in more languages at the Europa website.

NOTE:

MEP Istvan Ujhelyi drafted an additional motion to this report on the creation of the European Tourism Union. This AM was voted too, so the majority of the MEPs supported the idea of a stronger European Tourism Policy with the establishment of the European Tourism Union.
 
Istvan Ujhelyi stated: “The bankruptcy of the Thomas Cook and now the coronavirus epidemic have highlighted the need for EU-level solutions: immediate financial support, a crisis management mechanism, clear rules to facilitate travel, and a long-term European tourism strategy. Tourism is part of the European Green Deal, and the innovative digital solutions can help to relaunch the sector in a more sustainable way. After hearing Parliament's proposal, the Commission decided to set up a European Health Union, with a budget in the seven-year MFF. I am convinced that in the coming months, European leaders will recognize that a similar achievement is needed, in the field of tourism to create the European Tourism Union!”

The AM on the European Tourism Union:
"17. Calls for a discussion to be initiated at the Conference on the Future of Europe on helping tourism to become a shared competence of the EU, rather than a complementary competence as is currently the case; stresses that the Treaties currently provide significant flexibility for EU policies in the field of tourism, which is not being fully utilised by the Commission; calls on the Commission, therefore, to start making full use of the Treaties to develop a comprehensive European tourism policy towards the creation of the European Tourism Union".


Download the full text in PDF format from the right-hand panel.