Correspondence between the Chairman of
the Select Committee and the Department for Culture, Media and
Sport
14248/07: Communication on an Agenda for
a sustainable and competitive European Tourism.
Your Explanatory Memorandum dated 6 November,
together with Draft Council Conclusions, was considered by Sub-Committee
G at their meeting held on 22 November.
We notified your Department by telephone straight
away that we had cleared the document from scrutiny, and we trust
that this information reached the Minister—representing
the UK at the Competitiveness Council meeting of 22 and 23 November—before
the item came up for discussion on the agenda of that meeting.
However, while we recognise that EC Treaty Article
3(u) does provide that that the activity of the Community shall
include "measures in the spheres of energy, civil protection
and tourism", we are most uneasy about the scale of Community
engagement which is reflected in the Commission's proposals set
out in the Communication.
We see the tourism industry as an area of commercial
enterprise in which individual Member States need to establish,
to the degree that suits their own circumstances, the extent to
which the activities of the industry are supported by government
intervention or are constrained by the social and environmental
aims of the Member State. We are not convinced that a framework
of this kind, covering the European Union as a whole, is desirable.
We would therefore find it helpful to learn
of your views about the need for an EU level role in relation
to the tourism industry, and we ask you to write to us setting
these out.
29 November 2007
14248/07: Communication for a Sustainable
and Competitive European Tourism
Thak you for your letter of 29 November seeking
my views on the need for a EU role in relation to the tourism
industry.
I am grateful to you for notifying my department
so promptly of your decision to clear from scrutiny the above
Communication. My officials were most grateful for your assistance,
especially given the tight deadlines under which they were working.
The notified BERR, lead Department for EU Competitiveness issues,
straight away and on time for the Competitiveness Council meeting
of the 22 and 23 of November.
You might be interested to know that the Council
Conclusions on this agenda item were adopted without debate.
In your letter, you express concerns about the
Commission's proposals set out in the Communication. I understand
these concerns, especially in view of the new Tourism competence
that will be introduced in the forthcoming Reform Treaty.
My department has held a longstanding view that
there is no need for a competence in the field of tourism. The
concern has been that it could lead to more but not necessarily
effective activity in this field. However there was no strong
reason to object to its inclusion within the context of the wider
government negotiating priorities.
With regard to the proposals set out in the
Communication and the report to which it refers ("Action
for more sustainable European Tourism"), I consider the Communication
to be in line with UK sustainable tourism development policies.
The UK is a member of the Tourism Sustainability Group (TSG),
and we have supported its work and its report in our recently
launched tourism strategy: "Winning: A Tourism Strategy for
2012 and beyond".
I agree with your comments on the need for Member
States to establish their own policy and regulatory environment
to suit and develop their own tourism sector. The Commission,
in its Communication, also acknowledges this point and recognises
the voluntary nature of stakeholder's engagement with the process:
"The tourism sector involves many different private and public
stakeholders with decentralised competencies. It is therefore
of major importance to respect the principle of subsidiarity and
to work with a bottom-up approach, involving those stakeholders
who have the competence and power to act and who are voluntarily
contributing to the implementation of the Agenda" (Page 6,
bullet 3).
We had intitial concerns, echoed by other Member
States, about the potential reporting demands that the Commission
could impose. The Communication proposes the use of current annual
reporting mechanisms through the Tourism Advisory Committee and
the revision of the Tourism Statistics Directive. We are engaged
in the revision and it is currently making progress. The relevant
paragraphs in the Communication are as follows:
"In order to strengthen the collaboration
with and among Member States, their current annual reporting through
the Tourism Advisory Committee (TAC) will be used to facilitate
the exchange and the dissemination of information also about how
their policies and actions safeguard the sustainability of tourism"
(Page 8, bullet 3.2.1, paragraph 6).
"The need to know better and faster how
tourism evolves in Europe can be addressed partly through the
collection and provision of statistical and geographic data. For
instance through the revision of the Tourism Statistics directive
and/or through GMES (Global Monitoring of Environment and Security)
delivering Europe-wide uniform geospatial information services,
and partly through the activity of existing or new observatories"
(Page 9, bullet 3.2.1, paragraph 7).
Having taken further legal advice, we are confident
that the new competence within the Reform Treaty excludes any
harmonisation of national laws.
If it would be helpful for me to provide further
details, do not hesitate to contact my officials.
19 December 2007
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