Work
14.June 2007 - 00:00
Equal treatment of tourists
The EU endeavours to keep a close watch on trade between Member States, to ensure that it is conducted fairly and without discrimination; and various legislative initiatives are correspondingly aimed at bringing about equal treatment of EU citizens within the Union.
However, there are many practical examples suggesting that equal treatment of citizens is nowhere near being realised. One such case occurs in Greece, on the island of Crete, from where there has been a lot of public feedback about fraudulent taxi fares.
By failing to intervene the authorities are in practice allowing a situation in which an EU tourist in Crete can be charged more than double, in the form of a flat fare, for taxi-rides, whereas a local gets to pay the official fare recorded by the taximeter. This is illegal, but police supervision is so patchy that breaking the law is the norm and the passivity of the police can to all intents and purposes be equated with acquiescence.
The law requires taxi-drivers to turn on their taximeter when carrying a customer; if, despite requests, they do not do so, the police will immediately fine them about EUR 300 on the spot. What actually happens where tourists are concerned is, however, another story.
Many people who have travelled in Hania (Platanos) by taxi have noticed that the drivers hardly ever switch the taximeter on. In the light of enquiries on this point it is clear that drivers would rather turn awkward customers away than obey the rules. According to the feedback in one case, this happened six times before a driver eventually agreed to use the taximeter.
The feedback from the public also indicated that once customers had finally managed to make drivers use the taximeter, the resulting fare was EUR 4.50, whereas on earlier occasions, without a taximeter, it had ranged from EUR 8 to EUR 10.
Has the Commission received similar reports of inequality among citizens arising from practices and activities elsewhere in the Union?
Does it have any means of keeping equal treatment of EU citizens under review in the different Member States, so as to stop such systematic exploitation of tourists’ ignorance?
Answer given by Mr Verheugen on behalf of the Commission
The Commission truly regrets when such incidents occur and it agrees with the Honourable Member that discrimination on the basis of nationality in the EU is not acceptable.
With regard to the practices described by the Honourable Member, the Commission is however not aware that the Greek legal or administrative system would favour such kind of discrimination. In this specific case the problem seems to be linked to criminal behaviour of individuals, which should be addressed through enforcement measures under the competence of the Member State.
The EU endeavours to keep a close watch on trade between Member States, to ensure that it is conducted fairly and without discrimination; and various legislative initiatives are correspondingly aimed at bringing about equal treatment of EU citizens within the Union.
However, there are many practical examples suggesting that equal treatment of citizens is nowhere near being realised. One such case occurs in Greece, on the island of Crete, from where there has been a lot of public feedback about fraudulent taxi fares.
By failing to intervene the authorities are in practice allowing a situation in which an EU tourist in Crete can be charged more than double, in the form of a flat fare, for taxi-rides, whereas a local gets to pay the official fare recorded by the taximeter. This is illegal, but police supervision is so patchy that breaking the law is the norm and the passivity of the police can to all intents and purposes be equated with acquiescence.
The law requires taxi-drivers to turn on their taximeter when carrying a customer; if, despite requests, they do not do so, the police will immediately fine them about EUR 300 on the spot. What actually happens where tourists are concerned is, however, another story.
Many people who have travelled in Hania (Platanos) by taxi have noticed that the drivers hardly ever switch the taximeter on. In the light of enquiries on this point it is clear that drivers would rather turn awkward customers away than obey the rules. According to the feedback in one case, this happened six times before a driver eventually agreed to use the taximeter.
The feedback from the public also indicated that once customers had finally managed to make drivers use the taximeter, the resulting fare was EUR 4.50, whereas on earlier occasions, without a taximeter, it had ranged from EUR 8 to EUR 10.
Has the Commission received similar reports of inequality among citizens arising from practices and activities elsewhere in the Union?
Does it have any means of keeping equal treatment of EU citizens under review in the different Member States, so as to stop such systematic exploitation of tourists’ ignorance?
Answer given by Mr Verheugen on behalf of the Commission
The Commission truly regrets when such incidents occur and it agrees with the Honourable Member that discrimination on the basis of nationality in the EU is not acceptable.
With regard to the practices described by the Honourable Member, the Commission is however not aware that the Greek legal or administrative system would favour such kind of discrimination. In this specific case the problem seems to be linked to criminal behaviour of individuals, which should be addressed through enforcement measures under the competence of the Member State.