442 COMPETITION LAW IN TOURISM implementation is ultimately dependent on the ratification by national parliaments of the Member States and/or approval by the competent bodies and timeliness is a second challenge to be faced simultaneously with the former. As regards specifically the touristic sector, the EU institutions adopted several initiatives and calls for action to support the sector. We refer to the first ones and to the more recent ones, which reflect the evolution occurred. Firstly, between April and May 2020 (two of the months during which there were stricter confinement measures applied in certain Member States) at the Council of the EU, the Ministers in charge of Tourism exchanged views (twice in less than a month) on how to address the challenges faced by the sector. Interestingly enough, the exchange of views during the second interaction was structured around the following two questions: “What is your assessment of the measures taken at EU level and what further measures should be taken in order to ensure adequate financial and other forms of support for the tourism sector?”; and “What would be the best way forward to ensure efficient and timely coordination in the implementation of the guidelines and measures from the tourism and transport package?”73. It’s also worthwhile referring how during that same ministerial interaction “Several member states were of the view that the tourism sector needs a swift and targeted financial support at EU level to address the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, including adequate financial support from the upcoming EU recovery plan”, which is mentioned hereinabove. And “Finally, as regards passengers whose flights were cancelled due to the pandemic, a number of ministers called upon the Commission to provide member states with additional flexibility in order to address liquidity problems of airline companies”. Secondly and following the same lines, on 13 May the Commission issued guidelines on how to safely resume travel and reboot European tourism in 2020 and beyond74. Moreover, on that same day the Commission adopted Recommendation 2020/648 on vouchers offered to passengers and travellers as an alternative to reimbursement for cancelled package travel and transport services in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the same Recommendation, the Commission mentions that “The travel and tourism sectors in the Union report a reduction of bookings in the range of 73 See the European Council’s press release available at: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/meetings/ compet/2020/05/20/. 74 See the European Commission’s press release, available at: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/ detail/en/ip_20_854.
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