International Organizations and Sustainable Tourism – EU 4

 

After the couple of posts about the Commission, and the one about the Council, here’s the third institution to consider when it comes to sustainable tourism in the European Union: European Parliament (official website here)

The European Parliament is the only institution directly elected by the citizens, so it is the only one with direct representation. Among the various activities of the European Parliament there is the support for European tourism destinations and the assessment of the impact of tourism in the various European environmental, economic, social aspects, plus employment, image and sustainability.

 

The European Parliament has adopted a series of Resolutions on the guidelines submitted by the Commission, as well as initiatives concerning tourism. Among these: the Resolution of 2005 "New perspectives and new challenges for sustainable tourism in Europe"; the Resolution of 2007, "A renewed European Union tourism policy"; and the Resolution of 2008 on regional development and the the impact of tourism on coastal areas.

 

With the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, the European Parliament has increased its weight within the European institutional framework, by virtue of increased powers and responsibilities. On 27 September 2011, the European Parliament adopted Resolution P7_TA (2011) 0407 that leads to the maturation of the process initiated within the Parliament. Indeed, the Parliament had drawn up a report entitled: "Europe, the first world tourist destination". In addition to supporting the tourism strategies advanced by the Commission, the European Parliament emphasizes the numerous social aspects linked to tourism, both for those who work in tourism and for those who practice it.

On 29 October 2015, the European Parliament adopted Resolution P8_TA (2015) 0391 on new challenges and promotion of tourism in Europe. The Resolution focuses on the digitization of distribution channels, the development of the sharing economy, the change in consumer preferences, on fostering training strategies for the employment of qualified personnel, and on aspects related to the demography and seasonality of tourism. With this Resolution, the EU Parliament called on the Commission to present a new strategy and various Union institutions to converge on a goal called "Destination Europe 2020".

It’s quite a lot for today, and if you are keen on reading the resolutions, here’s the link 

I wish you a pleasant day, and a peaceful evening 💗