by public authorities worldwide so as to control it 7, had paramount economic and social consequences. Thus, one striking example concerns the exceptional and evolving state aid legal framework at the European Union (“EU”) level during the COVID 19 pandemics8 and their implementation by the European Commission (“Commission”) notably concerning touristic activities even before adopting soft law9. This is without prejudice to the fact that already before the COVID 19 pandemics the fast-growing importance of digitalization and innovative forms of doing business notably in the tourism sector, the emergence of new types of players and the interplay between the different levels of the value chain already caught the attention and the intervention of regulators and competition authorities, with impact on the tourism sector as explained hereunder. Examples provided in this contribution concern the “tourism sector” broadly considered and include investigations of alleged anticompetitive practices between undertakings which are competitors or develop their economic activity in different levels of the value chain, the acute debate on potential abuses of dominance by digital platforms, as well as the relevance of the scrutiny of concentrations between undertakings and the evolving state aid rules and enforcement. 2. The tourism sector in the wider EU context It is worthwhile highlighting that the EU’s competence as concerns the tourism sector is specifically to carry out actions “to support, coordinate or supplement the actions of the Member States”10. This is without prejudice to the fact that national This led World Health Organization (“WHO”) to declare a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on 30.01.2020 and to characterize the outbreak as a pandemic on 11.03.2020. More information available at https://www.who.int/europe/emergencies/situations/covid-19. 7 Such as physical confinements and several sorts of travelling restrictions within the European Union and from and to third countries. 8 Notably the adoption by the Commission of a Communication “Temporary Framework for State aid measures to support the economy in the current COVID-19 outbreak” (“Temporary Framework for State aid – COVID 19”) on 20.03.2020, published in Official Journal of the European Union (“OJ”) C 91I, 20.3.2020, p. 1–9 and amended several times. It was extended until June 30, 2022. 9 On 12.03.2020 the Commission approved the first and only State aid measure notified by a Member State to the Commission in relation to the COVID-19 outbreak by then. The scheme was approved under EU State aid rules within 24 hours of receiving the notification from Denmark which consisted of a €12 million compensation to organisers for the damage suffered due to the cancellation of large events with more than 1,000 participants due to the COVID-19 outbreak. More information available at https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ ip_20_454 10 Article 6 indent (d) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (“TFEU”). The limits of Union competences are governed by the principle of conferral, as provided for in article 5(1) of the Treaty of the European Union (“TEU”). Thus, “[…] The use of Union competences is governed by the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality”. Moreover, under nr. 2 of the same legal provision “Under the principle of conferral, the Union shall act only within the limits 129 THE SWEET&SOUR TASTE OF TOURISM AND COMPETITION LAW INTERACTION
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTE4NzM5Nw==