Organised by the University of South Brittany in the framework of the EU-funded FLOWER project (which aims to develop innovative flax fibre reinforcements for composite applications), this Conference, held on 22-23 April will highlight scientific work and industrial initiatives on the integration of bio-composite materials in maritime sectors. It will include keynote talks, scientific presentations, company pitches, and individual meetings. The conference will take place online. More information and registration can be found here. The programme is available here, and will include a number of relevant presentations and company pitches from boating companies, including EcoTechnilin,  All Purpose, Greenboats, Kaïros, Time for Oceans, Ox Eye and Gsea Design/Compozit.

The European Tourism Manifesto, a coalition of over 60 travel and tourism organisations (including EBI), released a statement expressing its support for the European Commission’s proposal for a digital green certificate. This interoperable certificate, which will provide proof of a person’s vaccination, recovery from the virus or negative test results, will allow for the safe movement of citizens, thus facilitating the restart of travel and tourism.

Through the statement, the European Tourism Manifesto calls on the European Parliament and the Council of the EU to approve the proposal and on Member States to implement it. It also calls for collaboration between the EU and other bodies like the World Health Organisation, in order to develop interoperable vaccination records at global level.

The statement comes in the context of the European Tourism Manifesto’s efforts to ensure that the travel and tourism sector recovers from the crisis. In February, it issued a series of recommendations for restarting safe travel and tourism in time for the summer period, including a harmonised EU framework for travel-related testing and the creation of an EU Task Force to restore travel and tourism. Earlier that month, it released a document with concrete investment proposals, calling for tourism to be present in national recovery plans.

On 12 and 13 March, FIN (the French Federation of Nautical Industries) held Virtual Nautic, an immersive and unique virtual boat show that aimed at replicating in a virtual way the experience of in-person boat shows, with 184 exhibitors and thousands of visitors.

As part of the event, a series of workshops and conferences were organised, called “Les Rencontres”. EBI Secretary-General Philip Easthill had the pleasure to participate in the first of these talks, sharing with attendants the trends in the boating industry in 2020 and 2021, including the impact of COVID-19. He was joined by Yves Lyon-Caen, President of FIN, and Nicolas Harvey, Director of Four Winns and of Wellcraft.

The talk can be found in this video (in French). More conferences from “Les Rencontres” can be found in FIN’s YouTube channel.

EBI together with The SeaCleaners, the NGO created by sailor Yvan Bourgnon to combat plastic pollution, are holding a webinar on 19 May. It will introduce The SeaCleaners and present opportunities for boaters and the recreational boating industry to become involved in tackling marine litter.

The webinar will be an opportunity for boating industry stakeholders, including companies and boaters, to engage with the issue of marine pollution. As a beneficiary of a clean and healthy marine environment, the boating community is a natural ally in protecting seas and oceans. The webinar is held on the occasion of European Maritime Day, which provides every year an opportunity for EU citizens to engage with maritime affairs and sustainable blue growth through events across Europe.

The event will include the participation of Yvan Bourgnon, President and founder of The SeaCleaners, as well as its Technical Director Frederic Silvert, who will share technological insights of the Manta, the flagship project of The SeaCleaners. The Manta is a revolutionary vessel currently being developed, which will be powered by renewable energy. It will collect and process floating waste, capable of collecting up to 3 tonnes of debris per hour. The webinar will be moderated by Valérie Amant, Director of Communications at The SeaCleaners. Andreea Strachinescu, Head of Unit for Maritime innovation, Marine Knowledge and Investment in the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, will also present the EU’s actions against marine litter and involvement of different actors in plastic waste collection.

Following the presentations, the audience will be engaged through a Q&A session. Various opportunities for support and involvement in the The SeaCleaners’ mission will be presented to participants in this practical and interactive webinar.

The webinar is the first activity organised in the framework of the collaboration between The SeaCleaners and European Boating Industry, which was formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding in January 2021.

The webinar will take place on 19 May, 11:00 – 12:00 and is open to all. To register, please click here.

European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius, will participate in the 2021 International Breakfast Meeting on 20 April. He and other high-level panellists from business and politics will discuss the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on the recreational boating industry, recovery, new trends and opportunities.

The full agenda for the 2021 International Breakfast Meeting, organised by boot Düsseldorf and European Boating Industry, has now been released. The event, which will exceptionally be held online, will offer industry and journalists the opportunity to exchange information on the latest market trends, regulations and innovation, as well as to develop new contacts and networks.

Virginijus Sinkevičius, European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, will participate at the event by video message. The Commissioner is responsible for the blue economy, including nautical tourism, the circular economy, as well as contributing to the implementation of the European Green Deal. This is the first time a European Commissioner participates at the International Breakfast Meeting, showing the increasing importance of the event and interest from the EU institutions.

Other speakers include Petros Michelidakis (Director of boot Düsseldorf), Ismail Ertug (Member of the European Parliament), Amelie Cesar and Natascha Zwenke (Jade University of Applied Sciences Wilhelmshaven, who led a study into the impact of Covid-19 on the boating industry), Lyublena Dimova (Research Manager at the European Travel Commission) and Gianguido Girotti (Deputy CEO of Groupe Bénéteau). The event will be moderated by Philip Easthill (Secretary-General of EBI).

The theme of this year’s edition will be “A Corona reboot of tourism and recreation – What future for boating?”. The event will include the presentation of a study on the impact of Covid-19 on the industry and the industry’s outlook. In addition, discussions will focus on new trends in travel and tourism, the future EU tourism strategy, and how to build momentum for boating in 2021 and beyond. The 2021 International Breakfast Meeting will take place on 20 April from 10:00 to 11:45 (CEST).

Further information about the International Breakfast Meeting is available here. The registration form can be found .

The European Commission has published a report called “Mapping study on measuring the economic impact of COVID-19 on the sport sector in the EU”. The report, which was commissioned to two external contractors (Ecorys and SportsEconAustria), quantifies the impact of the pandemic on the sport sector by comparing several scenarios, each with different stringency of COVID-19 containment measures. The report also involved interviews with stakeholders, including EBI, as well as an online survey, in which several EBI members and experts participated.

The study finds that COVID-19 has had a grave impact on sports. Under the scenario with the most stringent measures in place, all Member States except Czechia see a decline in their share of sport-related GDP of at least 10% in 2020. However, the impact largely depends on countries’ GDP, the size of the sport sector in each country, and the containment measures taken. To ensure the recovery of the sector, the Commission recommends the use of financial support, among other things.

More information, together with the full report, can be found here.

In a Communication released this month titled “A common path to safe and sustained re-opening”, the Commission called on Member States to adopt a coordinated approach to the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions when the situation allows it.

The communication includes a series of recommendations to achieve that goal. These include: the deployment of the proposed Digital Green Certificate; a framework developed by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control to help Member States take decisions on implementing restrictions; guidance on testing strategies; investment in treatments; measures to help tourism and culture sectors; and strengthening global resilience through the EU Vaccine Sharing Mechanism.

EU Tourism Health Seal

As an element of this strategy, the Commission will develop a so-called EU Tourism Health Seal. Businesses will be able to display this to prove that they are complying with health and safety protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The aim is to build consumer confidence for the restart of tourism in time for the summer season. The basis for the EU Tourism Health Seal is being developed by the International Standardisation Organisation (ISO) through a PAS (Publicly Available Specification) on “Tourism and related services — Measures to reduce the spread of Covid-19 in the tourism industry”.

The resulting ISO deliverable will then be taken up by the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) for implementation as the EU Tourism Health Seal by the Commission. The ISO PAS includes activities grouped as “Yacht harbours and nautical activities”, which includes marinas, rental of boats, boat schools, training centres and complementary activities. EBI has been invited to participate in the ISO committee as expert, representing the interests of marinas, charter companies and other businesses from the boating industry. EBI will also be involved in the CEN work on the EU Tourism Health Seal.

The European Parliament adopted its Report on Establishing an EU Strategy for Sustainable Tourism with a resounding majority. Through it, MEPs call for several measures to make tourism cleaner, safer and more sustainable, as well as to support the sector’s recovery. EBI welcomes the report and calls on the Commission and on EU countries to implement the proposals. The report singles out the potential of nautical tourism and recreational boating through concrete support measures which EBI has been advocating.

The report was adopted on 25 March by the Parliament’s plenary, with 577 votes in favour, 31 votes against and 80 abstentions. It is non-binding but promises to be a precursor for future Commission initiatives and offers strong political support. Prior to that, the report had been approved by the Parliament’s Transport and Tourism Committee by 47 to 2.

The report stresses the grave impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the tourism sector and proposes a wide array of measures to make tourism more environmentally friendly, diversified, and resilient to the crisis. It asks EU countries to implement common and coordinated criteria for safe travel, including a common vaccination certificate (as was proposed by the Commission last week – see the Commission’s press release). It also calls for Member States to include travel and tourism in their recovery plans, in order to ensure that adequate investment is available for the sector’s modernisation and digitisation and makes investment proposals. In addition, the report proposes the creation of an EU hygiene certification seal and of an EU Agency for Tourism. Altogether, it aims for the ambition of a European Tourism Union.

At the plenary session, the report’s rapporteur, MEP Cláudia Monteiro de Aguiar, said: “The 27 Member State recovery programmes must have plans to cover the tourism sector. The EU has to bring its efforts together and push forward a European tourism plan. This report is key to make sure our compatriots understand that the EU has measures and has funding to help companies, institutions and citizens”.

EBI has been playing an active role in the report, being in close contact with the key MEPs and with its allies to provide input that reflects the needs of the sector. This has been successful, with a number of key points that EBI has been advocating finding cross-party support. Namely, the report:

• “Commends the Commission for its work on the 14 actions which make up the Strategy for Coastal and Maritime Tourism, and invites it to present the results, which can be used to channel financing to infrastructure (ports and marinas), logistical and operational support, waste prevention and the use of renewable energy; stresses the need to respect the maritime ecosystem, promote dialogue between Member States, regional and local authorities, stakeholders and civil society, and foster the sustainable development of coastal and maritime tourism.” (point 49)
• “Calls on the Commission to develop initiatives for nautical and coastal tourism with regard to the recognition of skipper qualifications, VAT rules on boats, marinas and anchorages, to tackle seasonality and promote cross-border routes, such as a network of routes for nautical tourism.” (point 50)
• “Urges the Commission to work together with associations in the sector and to use best practices to issue recommendations and provide financial support for the organisation of trade tourism events, fairs [and] congresses.” (point 70)

This achievement is embedded in EBI’s strategy of working closely with the EU institutions and emphasising the role of the sector in tourism policy at EU level. Last September, the European Economic and Social Committee, an EU advisory body, published its opinion “Tourism and transport in 2020 and beyond”, which contained several proposals specific to boating and nautical tourism as a result of EBI’s advocacy efforts (see EBI’s press release). In addition, on 20 April, EBI and boot Düsseldorf will be holding the 2021 International Breakfast Meeting, an event involving high-level panellists from business and politics who will be discussing the present and future of the boating industry within tourism and recreation. It will include the participation of Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius, as well as MEP Ismail Ertug (information and registration here). Through these efforts, EBI aims to be at the forefront of policy discussions and decisions affecting the boating industry and nautical tourism.

The “Report on establishing an EU strategy for sustainable tourism” can be found here.

On 17 March, the European Commission presented a proposal to create a “Digital Green Certificate”, which would allow safe and free movement of citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic within European borders.

The Digital Green Certificate will be issued to citizens who have been vaccinated against COVID-19, have received a (recent) negative result, or have recovered from COVID-19. The strategy aims at lifting travel restrictions in a coordinated manner in all European Member States, to allow smoother movements of people across the Schengen borders. The certificate will be digital and issued for free by national authorities, which will have to set up the pass based on interoperability guidelines and common data set for test results. In case a Member State continues to oblige certificate holders to quarantine or require them to be tested, the decision will have to be justified to the Commission and other EU countries.

The European Commission has ensured that this new certificate will not hinder the possibility for unvaccinated people to travel. “It will not be a pre-condition to free movement, which is a fundamental right in the EU”, the Commission said.

After the Commission has presented the legal proposal, the European Parliament and the Member States will have to approve it. The European Parliament will decide on it in a fast-track process. After the approval, it will be up to national authorities to prepare the issuance and verification of certificates. It is hoped that, by the summer, the digital infrastructure will be set up and Member States will have implemented the changes in their health records systems.

More information on the strategy and its details can be found here.