Eurosceptic factions have not worked or participated actively in the legislative process in past years
or bad – are still likely to be in for a rougher ride than they would have had in the past.
Not that the going has ever been easy.
In March this year, the Guild of Euro- pean Business Travel Agents (GEBTA) was moved to “welcome” a European Parliament vote which excluded managed business travel from the Package Travel Di- rective – finally bringing to a close a debate that had lasted for at least five years. On transport issues, the European track
record has been equally chequered. Airlines, under the aegis of the In- ternational Air Transport Association (IATA) and others, are still arguing for a reform of passenger rights legislation that governs levels of compensation for flight delays and cancellations. Again, the wrangling has been dragging on for around half a decade. Rather more dramatically, Europe’s Commission-led decision to extend its emissions trading scheme (ETS) to all airlines flying into, out of, or over European airspace caused an international outcry. The Chinese authorities instructed their airlines not to comply, while the Obama
BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM
administration in the US threatened legal action, and a host of other nations threatened reprisals.
FACTIONAL IN-FIGHTING? The make-up of the new European Par- liament seems unlikely to make matters better – or worse – but there are con- cerns that, with the increased number of factions within the governing body, the legislative process could become more cumbersome. Julia Anna Eckert, at German travel man- agement association Verband Deutsches Reisemanagemnt (VDR), says: “We think the legislative process could slow [and that could have an impact on] the business travel items, probably in air passenger rights, emissions trading, the Single Euro- pean Sky, data security, and the regulation of the multilateral interchange fee.” Benoit Chantoin, legal advisor both to GEBTA and to ECTAA, the group of national travel agents’ and tour operators’
associations within the EU, is less sure. “It is unlikely that the new Eurosceptic members of the European Parliament will have an important impact on the daily work, or will slow down the legislative process, for two reasons,” he says. “First, the Eurosceptic parties will be divided into two or three political groups – the ECR [European Conservatives and Reformists], originally created by the British Tories; the EFD [Europe of Freedom and Democracy], including UKIP; and the new Far Right of the French National Front and the Dutch PVV – thus limiting their influence. Despite their growing number, the fact that Eurosceptics are split will limit their influence on the two big politi- cal groups – the S&D socialists, and the centre-right EPP.” Chantoin’s second reason is that Eu- rosceptic factions – namely the EFD and
BBT JULY/AUGUST 2014 21
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