Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-01-18-Speech-2-558-000"
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"en.20110118.21.2-558-000"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the European tourism industry, like many other economic sectors, has to face the ever greater challenge of globalisation.
I therefore feel able to reassure the honourable Member who tabled the question that the Commission and I are committed to ensuring that all small and medium-sized enterprises in the sector are supported and assisted in their efforts to access EU economic instruments, as part of a political strategy aimed at making tourism one of our key economic and industrial policy sectors.
This is a challenge that the Commission has already emphasised and addressed on many occasions, in particular, with the communication ‘An industrial policy for the globalisation era’. Furthermore, on 30 June last year, the Commission adopted a specific communication on tourism, which proposes – in line with the Treaty of Lisbon and the new Europe 2020 strategy – a consolidated political framework to strengthen competitiveness in the sector, with the aim of making European tourism a truly competitive, modern, sustainable and responsible industry.
The creation of an environment that is conducive to the development of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in the tourism sector is the principle on which this consolidated framework is based. To achieve this objective, we proposed three specific measures aimed, firstly, at stimulating competitiveness in the European tourism sector; secondly, at promoting the development of sustainable, responsible and high quality tourism; and thirdly, at consolidating the image and profile of Europe as a collection of sustainable and high quality tourist destinations and, of course, maximising the potential of EU financial policies and instruments for developing tourism.
The initiatives promoted should provide the sector with the instruments necessary to adapt to the challenges faced by its operators, and to work towards its sustainable development in terms of competitiveness. Of course, specific measures will be taken to promote innovation in the tourism sector, reinforce the quality of tourism services and improve the professional skills of tourism workers, because we must no longer regard tourism as a sector consisting exclusively of family businesses; we must also consider how we can make it more modern and more competitive.
I will give a few examples regarding training and professional skills: an ‘ICT and tourism’ platform will be launched to facilitate the adaptation of the tourism sector and its businesses to developments in the new information technologies market and improve their competitiveness. All of these proposals and ideas are contained in the Commission communication, which has been approved by the Council and which we are debating in Parliament – the rapporteur is present in the Chamber.
The industry’s operators will be encouraged to make better use of the Union’s various programmes, such as Leonardo, the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme, Erasmus for young entrepreneurs, the European Social Fund and other programmes. Furthermore, a strategy to promote the diversification of tourist services and the creation of a virtual electronic observatory for European tourism will likewise help to create a favourable environment for the sector’s operators.
In addition, I must point out that small and medium-sized enterprises can benefit from other cross-cutting initiatives to access funding. I would mention JEREMIE, the joint initiative of the Commission, the European Investment Fund and the European Investment Bank, which is aimed at improving access to funding for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, in particular, through the channels of risk capital, loans, securities, micro-credit and other forms of repayable aid.
Lastly, I would point out that small and medium-sized enterprises in the tourism sector are fully covered by the measures proposed in the framework of the Small Business Act, which is intended to promote the business environment of those very same enterprises. Parliament will receive the updated text in a few weeks’ time.
Hence, the Small Business Act will also become an instrument for safeguarding small and medium-sized enterprises, which offer huge potential in terms of the development of a sector that I hope to be able to strengthen over the next year, because I am absolutely convinced that a European policy, as laid down in the Treaty, can bring added value to the excellent work that is already being done by Europe’s regions and the Member States."@en1
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