EU-funded tourism projects 'set to start'

Projects to be implemented through European Union funds aimed at upgrading the tourism product are to come on board in the coming weeks, it was disclosed yesterday.

The matter was brought up by the president of the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association, Winston Zahra at a meeting between the association council and four of the five Maltese members of the European Parliament at the Radisson SAS Resort, in St Julians.

Mr Zahra lamented the delays in starting to reap the results of EU funding in favour of tourism.

Some €8 million from EU funds are directly earmarked for tourism upgrading projects.

The four MPs present were Simon Busuttil, Joe Muscat, Louis Grech and David Casa.

The delay, Dr Busuttil explained, was due to the procedure that was designed to ensure accountability on money spending.

In a paper prepared for the MEPs, the MHRA highlighted key issues which are currently topical in EU discussion and which the association believed the MEPs should focus attention on with respect to the tourism industry at a EU level.

Among other matters the MHRA states that reduced VAT rates should be applied to all areas within the hospitality sector and that VAT paid on accommodation and restaurants' services incurred for business purposes should be fully deductable.

Another issue was the introduction of a uniformed classification standard for hotels across Europe. The Confederation of National Associations of Hotels, Restaurants, Cafés and Similar Establishments in the European Union and European Economic Area, to which the MHRA is affiliated, disagreed with this because it would not take into account the individual characteristics and requirements of each country.

The MHRA feels that a detailed business impact assessment should be carried out whenever a EU proposal that was likely to affect the sector was made or whenever an amendment to an existing regulation/directive was envisaged.

The MHRA believes that the principle of subsidiarity be fully respected as far as the hospitality industry was concerned.

In its paper, the MHRA suggested that a quarterly meeting be scheduled between its EU consultant/EU committee and the MEPs to discuss issues pertaining to the hospitality industry within the EU.

The objective of such meetings would be to keep MEPs informed of the MHRA's work and to discuss relevant issues particularly where the association felt that further lobbying would be needed by the MEPs.