The European Parliament adopted by 634 votes to 30, with 10 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning European Statistics on tourism.
It adopted its position at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure. The amendments adopted in plenary are the result of a compromise negotiated between the European Parliament and the Council. They amend the proposal as follows:
Subject matter: it is stipulated that this Regulation establishes a common framework for the systematic development, production and dissemination of European statistics on tourism.
Definition of “tourism”: this shall mean the activity of visitors taking a trip to a main destination outside the usual environment, for less than a year, for any main purpose, including business, leisure or other personal purpose, other than to be employed by a resident entity in the place visited.
“Same-day visits”: this shall mean visits without overnight stay made by residents outside their usual environment and which originated from the place of usual residence.
Social tourism: a new recital recalls that social tourism allows as many people as possible to participate in tourism. Moreover, it can also contribute to combating seasonality, strengthening the notion of European citizenship and promoting regional development besides facilitating the development of specific local economies. To assess the participation in tourism of different socio-demographic groups and monitor the Union programmes in the area of social tourism.
Pilot studies: the Commission shall draw up a programme for pilot studies to be carried out by Member States on a voluntary basis in order to:
Delegated acts and implementing acts: the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union should be delegated to the Commission for the purpose of adapting the definitions, the deadlines for data transmission and the Annexes, other than the optional nature of the required information and the limitation of the scope as defined in the Annexes.
The power to adopt the delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in this Regulation.
There is a need for uniform conditions for the implementation of this Regulation. Implementing powers should therefore be conferred on the Commission and exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 laying down the rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by the Member States of the Commission's exercise of implementing powers.
Evaluation report: by five years after the entry into force of this Regulation and every five years thereafter, the Commission shall submit an evaluation report to the European Parliament and to the Council on the statistics compiled pursuant to this Regulation and, in particular on their relevance and the burden on business.