Tourism Law in Europe

tourism, but also simplify bureaucracy and administrative structures, and – as far as we are concerned – harmonise the legislation of the Member States involved. Indeed, the free movement of goods, people and capital in the territory of the Union – the basis of the common market – directly affects tourism. On the other hand, the European Union is not sensitive to the fact that problems in the interpretation of rules generate conflict between tourism operators. Until now, only large programmatic declarations, green books or programmes such as Philoxenia (1996) 17 have been directed at tourism by the community institutions. However, tourism does not exist among community competencies 18 . A reading of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) allows us to appreciate the timidity with which the original law of the European Union treats tourism. Thus, Article 195 attributes to the European Union the responsibility to: 1. Promote the competitiveness of companies in this sector and create a favourable environment for their development; 2. Promote cooperation between the Member States, in particular through the exchange of good practices; and 3. Develop an integrated approach to tourism, guaranteeing that this sector is taken into consideration in its other policies. The European Union has two basic instruments to contribute to the harmonisation of the legislation of the Member States: 1. Community directives, conceived precisely as standards for the harmonisation of the legislation of the Member States, have proven to be a very useful instrument for this purpose, enjoying a direct effect in case there is no internal transposition or incorrect transposition; and 17 The objectives of this programme are: 1. to improve knowledge of the European tourism sector, developing information on the matter, centralising tourist information from other sources and facilitating the evaluation of community sources that affect the sector; 2. to improve the community legislative and financial environment for tourism by strengthening the cooperation of the Member States;. 3. to improve the quality of European tourism, promoting long-lasting tourism, for which it is necessary to remove obstacles that may slow down the development of this sector; 4. to increase the number of tourists from third countries, encouraging the promotion of Europe as a tourist destination; and 5. to promote economic growth and job creation in the countries of the Union. 18 RODRÍGUEZ-ARANA MUÑOZ, J. “Sobre la distribución de competencias en materia de turismo”, Revista Aragonesa de Administración Pública no. 32, 2008, pp. 369-406.