International Organizations and Sustainable Tourism – EU 3

 

Ciao!

After a couple of posts about the European Commission and sustainabletourism, today’s topic is the European Union Council.

 

The Council is an inter-governmental body created in 1974 with the intention of establishing an informal forum for discussion between heads of state or government. To put it brutally, it is the where the member countries defend their national positions and interests within the Union. The more it got integrated into the EU agenda, the more the Council became a drafter of EU policies.

It functions as a council of ministers, where the various national ministers meet and - among the various inter-ministerial meetings - the diplomatic representations of the member states to the Union keep in contact and have periodic sessions. The presidency rotates among member states and changes every six months (currently it is Germany) . So now it’s clearer why the EU has not a single leader but a triumvirate: the Commission President, the Presidency of the Council, and the Chairperson of the EU parliament.

 

The Council of the European Union also deals with sustainable tourism.

The Council kicked off the European Tourism Forum. The Forum is held annually, is co-organized by the Presidency (who happens in the second half of the year) and has a strong political value. It is usually preceded by a series of meetings between the various ministers with tourism portfolio in the member countries. Based on the priorities established by these preparatory meetings, the key theme of the Forum is chosen, and in this context sustainable tourism was discussed at the highest executive levels. Here is this year program. 

Next post will be about the third EU institution, the EU Parliament and - of course – sustainable tourism.

Stay tuned and have a greeEEAAaat day!

Ps: down the memory lane... me, working at the Council, Brussels, 2009-2010