The issue of the financial suffocation of Greek hotel units due to the reluctance of the tourism giant TUI to pay its debts, raises the question of the PASOK Mr. Nikos Androulakis, with a question to the European Commission.
Despite the fact that TUI received €3 billion in emergency state aid from the German government, TUI, taking advantage of the temporary European state aid framework in the midst of a pandemic, decided to unilaterally change its payment terms retroactively. In particular, while the company was due to pay invoices up to two months after the hotels had provided the service, it decided unilaterally to postpone most of its payments by six months, i.e. in March and April 2021. It is worth noting that, in addition to being a form of compulsory borrowing, the non-payment of the relevant invoices and while the customers have already paid the corresponding full value of the packages to the company also constitutes an unfair practice.
TUI's unacceptable action, in an extremely difficult tourist season for the country, comes to further strangle Greek hotels, just a year after the collapse of Thomas Cook and the dire financial consequences it caused.
Based on the above, Mr.Androulakis asks the European Commission, on the one hand, whether the non-payment of TUI's obligations on time is compatible with the current European framework for state aid measures, and on the other hand, how this behavior will affect its judgment as to the solvency of the company in its expected third request for approval of state aid by the competent Directorate General for Competition of the European Commission. Finally, the MEP raises the issue of the retroactive and unilateral modification of contracts with hotels, and whether this behaviour constitutes an unfair transfer of commercial risk to Greek hoteliers, and whether measures are envisaged to protect and assist businesses from such practices in the midst of a pandemic.
The full text of the question is as follows:
“TUI, the largest leisure and travel company, refuses to meet its obligations to Greek hotels, pushing the country's already stressed tourism sector to disaster. After defaulting on payments in Spain in early 2020, the company made a unilateral, retroactive change in payment terms and after services had already been delivered. The company unilaterally decided to unilaterally postpone payments due up to two months after the end of the 2020 summer season, in March and April 2021, causing them financial strangulation.
It is noted that TUI has received €3 billion as a two tranche emergency pandemic loan from the German government in 2020, taking advantage of the temporary European state aid framework. However, the failure to repay hoteliers while customers have already paid the equivalent value of packages to the company is a form of compulsory lending.
The Commission asks:
Is the non-payment of its obligations compatible with the current framework for State aid measures and how will this behaviour affect its solvency in its expected third request for State aid?;
Is a retroactive and unilateral amendment of the contract compatible and how does the Commission ensure that this is not an unfair transfer of commercial risk?;
Are there measures in place to protect and assist businesses from such practices in the midst of a pandemic?”
