Members of the European Parliament’s Task Force have once again raised their voices and called on the EU Commission to undertake what is needed and make sure to come forward with a strategy on sustainable tourism and a dedicated budget line in the next long-term EU budget.
Throughout a meeting held on Wednesday, the Transport and Tourism Committee highlighted the fact that the tourism sector is on the verge of collapse, and 22 million people in the EU who work in this sector risk losing their jobs.
According to a press release of the EU Parliament, the Task Force expresses its disappointment with the EU bodies, claiming they have done little to help the travel and tourism sector survive, and pointing out that tourism accounts for 4.3 per cent to 25 per cent of the GDP of the Member States.
“More than six months have passed in this emergency situation, yet there are still no common criteria in the EU on how to handle and live with this pandemic: no universal hygiene and health protocols, no common rules for testing or on how to assess the risks, no adhering to the free movement principle,” the Task Force points out in its notice.
They also emphasize the fact that though travelling is partially possible within Europe, the restrictions imposed by the Member States make it difficult to travel, and travellers have no guarantees that their planned trips can and will go ahead.
“We insist on urgent concrete action from the European Commission and the member states. A well-defined crisis management mechanism is needed; the sector is fighting to survive,” the notice reads.
The Task Force has also listed concrete measures which they want the EU to undertake in order to make sure that the tourism sector does not collapse and jobs are preserved in the next coming months.
The main measures are a clear path towards a genuine EU policy on sustainable tourism, Consistent and transparent criteria to assess the risks across the EU, as well as EU-level coordination of travel restrictions, hygiene and health protocols.
More than all, the Task Force wants the EU to come forward with a strategy on sustainable tourism and a dedicated budget line in the next long-term EU budget.
“A €300 million budget line to implement a common vision for sustainable tourism over the next seven years is not too much to ask,” the MEPs end their request, noting that it is essential, to make sure that this economic sector will have a chance to get back on its feet after months of stagnation.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) for weeks now, or even months, has been asking the Member States to act and resume travel across the EU, amongst others calling on border reopening, common entry rules, and replacement of quarantine with testing.
Only this week, IATA has urged the Member States to replace quarantine with rapid and systematic COVID-19 testing for travellers before departure, in order to re-establish global air connectivity.
Though at the very beginning of September, the EU Commission approved a proposal for a Council Recommendation on a coordinated approach to the restriction of free movement, the EU Members keep imposing different restrictions on arrivals and using different ways to categorize high-risk and low-risk countries.