Competition Law in Tourism

EU COMPETITION LAW AND POLICY IN THE TOURISM SECTOR 79 at the national level, the ECN has kept the online travel intermediation under review. Notwithstanding, because of the recently enacted regulation, further antitrust action in this direction seems unlikely. On the policy side, digital issues in the tourism sector have drawn the European Parliament’s attention. In its call for the Commission to take “more ambitions steps” regarding online competition, the MEPs recommended the executive arm to “monitor price caps in sectors such as online platforms for accommodation and tourism and ensure that consumers have cross-border access to a broad range of online goods and services at competitive prices”306. It remains to be seen whether these political considerations will affect the planned revision of the horizontal and vertical block exemption regulations and accompanying guidelines Enforcement against the abuse of the dominant position in the tourism sector has extended to railways, tour operators and other “traditional” players. Even though much ink has been spilled over possible application of Article 102 TFEU to the practices of online booking platforms, the case does not seem to be ripe just yet. In terms of policy expectations, there are indications that the “special responsibility” of digital giants, seen by some as gatekeepers for the online markets, will be expanded. Data access and data sharing will likely stay in the spotlight. Although no exact details have been given, the Commissioner promised to adapt the European dominance rules to the evolving market realities. Whether the changes will come through, increasing antitrust enforcement or complementary regulation under the Digital Single Market framework, still remains to be seen. Finally, state aid has been subject to an ambitious modernisation process. Nevertheless, until recently, its intra-EU focus had not been questioned. With increased attention towards strengthening European industries, in order to counter global competition, a more creative use of the state aid toolkit cannot be excluded. Plus, green is the new black and sustainability considerations are expected to become more important for state aid analysis307. Although Margrethe Vestager vowed to “move forward with the review”308 of EU state aid rules during her new mandate, the Treaty amendment is highly unlikely. At the same time, as 306 European Parliament, Resolution of 31.01.2019 on the Annual Report on Competition Policy (2018/2102(INI), available at: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-8-2019-0062_EN.pdf, point 19. 307 “All of Europe’s policies – including competition policy – will have their role to play in helping to get us there” – asserted Ms. Vestager in her speech on competition and sustainability, supra note 305. 308 Answers to the European Parliament, supra note 301, p. 3.

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