Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-09-07-Speech-3-171"
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"en.20050907.19.3-171"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to warmly thank Mr Queiró, Mr Costa and many others in this Chamber. It is very important that the European Parliament should keep revisiting this issue if it is not to be overshadowed by others in Europe, and that that state of affairs must prevail no longer.
When I speculate as to which sectors of the European economy might, in the years to come, make an outstanding contribution to growth and the creation of jobs, tourism is the first that springs to mind. It is evident to all of us that this is an enormous market, with potential for growth, and that Europe needs to be able to maintain its leading position in it, but there are plenty of problems to contend with. We face increasing competition, and foreign tourism is influenced by more and more factors, ranging from the environment to transport problems, not forgetting issues of home security. What is called for, then, is an integrated policy of reviewing all the responsibilities and competences that we have in terms of how we can use the options available to us in such a way as to create the ideal conditions for tourism to flourish in Europe.
As I have said on several occasions, this is a topic to which I attach an extraordinarily high degree of importance. Even though tourism is a field in which the Commission’s powers are not great, I do believe that there is much that we can do as part of the European Union’s growth and employment policy – that is to say, as part of the Lisbon Strategy – to support Europe’s tourist areas in their efforts.
I would also like to point out that the character of tourism will change considerably over the coming decades, particularly in view of population changes in Europe. It will have to take far greater account of senior citizens’ mobility needs, pay a great deal more attention to public safety issues and be far more aware of the need to protect our cultural and natural heritage than it has been in the past.
Tourism, in Europe, is not one sector among many; it has become a factor of people’s quality of life, and we have to take that seriously. The Commission is very definitely willing to cooperate with your House in every conceivable way in order to bring about the right sort of change in European tourism.
I would like, then, to conclude by saying something that may appear rather surprising. Europe is the world’s leading tourist region; it is the most attractive tourist destination not only for its own tourists, but also for those from other parts of the world. That is capital with which we can work, and the Commission is ready and willing to do so."@en1
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