Supporting tourism professionals affected by the sanctions against Russia

Subject: Supporting tourism professionals affected by the sanctions against Russia

The package of economic sanctions imposed by the EU against Russia has caused market disruptions that have affected many companies, especially those with business ties to Russia.

The sanctions will have a major impact on the tourism sector in particular, which has already been hit hard by the pandemic. For at least 30 years, Russians have been among the top visitors to Italy, with a much higher spending capacity than other tourists. From 2009 to 2014, the number of Russian tourists staying in Italy increased from 3.5 million to 8 million, while the amount they spent increased from EUR 600 million to around EUR 1.3 billion.

The sanctions are, of course, necessary but the EU needs to take a balanced approach and look out for sectors at risk. The situation of sectors such as tourism should therefore be carefully assessed and adequate economic resources should be allocated to offer them tangible economic support at such a difficult time.

In view of the above, can the Commission say:

1. Whether it will create a specific line in the current budget to support tourism professionals affected by the repercussions of these sanctions?

2. What other measures such as tax breaks and exemptions it could take, together with the Member States, to foster the economic recovery of the sector?

Answer given by Mr Breton on behalf of the European Commission

(29 August 2022)

Sanctions are among the EU's most visible, direct and powerful responses to Russia's brutal and unprovoked attack on Ukraine.

While there is no tourism-specific budgetary line to support tourism professionals affected by the repercussions of EU sanctions, they benefit from funding from various EU instruments (1).

For instance, under REACT-EU (2), around EUR 184 million have been allocated to programmes entirely dedicated to projects in the area of tourism. Tourism professionals also benefit from thematic programmes focusing on green and digital priorities in general.

Moreover, the Cohesion's Action for Refugees in Europe (CARE) (3) is used to support hotels providing long-term shelter to Ukrainian refugees. Tourism companies may benefit from the European Social Fund (ESF) to train Ukrainian refugees, which helps addressing staff shortage while allowing these refugees to enter the labour market.

The specific Temporary Crisis Framework adopted on 23 March 2022 (4), as further amended on 20 July 2022 (5), complements the existing state aid toolbox available to Member States and enables them to introduce measures aimed at mitigating the impact of the economic crisis following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Insofar as investment and solvency support measures are concerned, Member States also have the possibility to resort to the previous Temporary Framework adopted in March 2020 to support the economy in the COVID-19 outbreak (6) until 2022 for investment measures and 2023 for solvency support.

⋅1∙ For information on EU support pursuing other goals, see the online Guide on EU funding for tourism https://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/tourism/funding-guide_en

⋅2∙ Regulation (EU) 2022/613 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 April 2022 amending Regulations (EU) No 1303/2013 and (EU) No 223/2014 as

regards increased pre-financing from REACT-EU resources and the establishment of a unit cost, OJ L-115, 13.04.2022, p. 38. ⋅3∙ Regulation (EU) 2022/562 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 April 2022 amending Regulations (EU) No 1303/2013 and (EU) No 223/2014 as

regards Cohesion’s Action for Refugees in Europe (CARE), OJ L-109, 08.04.2022, p. 1. ⋅4∙ ‘Temporary Crisis Framework for State Aid measures to support the economy following the aggression against Ukraine by Russia’ https://eur‐lex.europa.eu/legal‐

content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52022XC0324(10)&from=EN

⋅5∙ Available at: https://competition-policy.ec.europa.eu/state-aid/ukraine_en

⋅6∙ https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52020XC0320(03)&from=EN