Sustainable Tourism Law

632 SUSTAINABLE TOURISM LAW Some agreements were also established: 1. Support the European integration to achieve social and economic cohesion, maintaining the social and environmental standards. 2. Avoid the adoption of models that, regardless of their economic attractiveness, may be unsustainable. 3. Integrated town planning, promoting a compact city development model and the rehabilitation of urban and industrial depressed areas. 4. Take advantage of the new opportunities offered by new technologies and innovative service concepts to raise the ecological efficiency of the cities. 5. Introduction of indicators for local sustainability to set targets, monitor the progress and report on achievements. 6. Foster regional networks to promote sustainable development. 7. Consider that the correct approach to the problems is reached at a municipal level. Therefore, municipal governments must be strengthened by giving them more responsibilities and power. An invitation was also made to the international community, asking for: 1. The support to Agenda 21 and the Habitat Agenda (Istanbul, 1997). 2. Prevent labour and environmental dumping by establishing social and environmental standards integrated in the international trade agreements. 3. Debt elimination through remission programmes. 4. Stimulate the local self-government by removing the obstacles and supporting the development of local environmental policies. 5. Establish an urban sustainable development fund within the Global Environmental Facility . The European Union institutions were asked to: 1. Give higher priority to local sustainable development, lending it an essential role in the Commission’s structure. 2. Create a more generous financial structure to support the European Sustainable Cities & Towns Campaign. 3. Introduce social and environmental aspects in the internal markets policies, legislation, programmes and financing. 4. Develop local self-government in European countries, while respecting the subsidiarity principle within the scope of performance of the European Union.