TOURISM LAW AND COMPETITION – A PORTUGUESE PERSPECTIVE 419 legal and regulatory frameworks adopted by public authorities. It should be borne in mind that the competences of the European Union (“EU”) are governed by the principle of conferral (which use is governed by the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality). Whereas the EU holds exclusive competence on the establishing of the competition rules necessary for the functioning of the internal market, tourism is one of the areas where the same has the competence to carry out actions specifically “to support, coordinate or supplement the actions of the Member States without thereby superseding their competence in these areas.” And other area is protection and improvement of human health, which has gained accrued importance for the dynamics of the tourism sector since the beginning of COVID 19 crisis and will arguably maintain it in the aftermath. We briefly refer to the competition dynamics in tourism in the pre-COVID context in Portugal by focusing on the promotion and enforcement of competition rules by the Portuguese Competition Authority, as the large majority of the activities that integrate the same are not regulated from an economic perspective (the main exception being the airlines one). With the outbreak of the COVID 19 pandemics we started witnessing a shift in the paradigm of tourism and more broadly of increased intervention of the State in the economy and specifically on tourism, both directly or indirectly. With the aim (and the argument) of combating COVID 19 pandemics, Member States have been adopting at different paces and timings, notably limitations to the fundamental economic freedom of circulation of persons within the EU and inevitably with major impact on tourism. The same has and continues to occur in third countries, such as the United Kingdom. Examples of such measures include restrictive policies on transportation and establishment of travel corridors in the context of the gradual opening of the borders within the European Union and with third countries. Inevitably, this will be able to influence the market dynamics, both internally (in the EU and even within the same Member State) and externally, with the increased risk of a surge of government induced distortions to competition. Simultaneously, EU institutions and Member States have adopted numerous actions of support of the EU economy and rapidly acknowledged the particularly serious impact the COVID 19 crisis is having on tourism lato sensu (with a highlight on airlines from the very beginning). We have assisted to the European Commission’s willingness in March 2020 to provide “full flexibility” to Member States to respond swiftly to the crisis and being (partially) backed by the Council
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