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From right to left: Mr. Antti Peltomäki, Deputy Director General of DG Grow, MEP István Ujhelyi, Mr. Jens Zimmer Christensen,
President of HOTREC, MEP Isabella De Monte, Mr. Carlo Corazza, spokeperson of European Parliament President, Mr. Christian
de Barrin, CEO of HOTREC – 20 February 2019, European Parliament
2018
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2019 HOTREC ANNUAL REPORT
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15
CORE EVENTS
During the past 12 months, HOTREC organised a number of high-level events aimed at promoting the hospitality
industry’s benefits to society towards European policy and decision-makers.
HOTREC presented in the European Parliament the hospitality sector’s key priorities for
the 2019-2024 EU mandate
In an event organised at the European Parliament on 20 February 2019, HOTREC unveiled its White Paper for
Hospitality in Europe. It contains 5 key priorities for the new 2019-2024 EU mandate that follows the May 2019
European elections. The event was hosted by MEP Isabella De Monte and counted with the participation of MEPs
Fabio Castado, István Ujhelyi, Claudia Tapardel, Cláudia Monteiro de Aguiar, Eva Kaili and Sean Kelly, as well as
Mr. Antti Peltomäki, Deputy Director General of DG Grow, Mr. Carlo Corazza, spokesperson of the President of
the European Parliament, various officials from the Member States permanent representations to the EU and
stakeholders.
During the event, the President of HOTREC, Mr. Jens Zimmer Christensen, recalled that the hospitality industry
is a key driving force of the European economy, as it employs 11,9 million workers and created 1,6 million new
jobs between 2013-2016. He stressed that the 5 priorities of HOTREC’s White Paper will help to build a more
innovative and sustainable Europe and shall therefore be supported by EU policy-makers.
The HOTREC’s White Paper 5 key priorities for the next EU legislative mandate are the followings:
•
Further levelling the playing field in the accommodation and food sector market in light of the intense
professionalisation of providers using “collaborative” economy platforms;
•
Revise the EU legislative framework regulating online platforms’ liability to reflect their increased role on the
markets, especially the E-commerce Directive;
•
A Better Regulation agenda that ensures that the EU focuses primarily on large cross-border issues and
better takes into account sectoral specific concerns;
•
Foster voluntary initiatives on nutrition for local food services instead of horizontal EU legislation;
•
Make the fight against skills shortage a truly EU case.
During the event, EU officials and MEPs congratulated HOTREC for the straight cooperation in different fields of
activity related with tourism in the past five years. They also encouraged all EU policy makers to include tourism
at the heart of the EU policy making, taking into account its contribution to Europe’s competiveness in terms of
growth and jobs.