Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

CYPRUS | CHRISTIANA MARKOU 739 as an absolute minimum). The exact amount of the guarantee is not to be calculated by the organiser himself. Conversely, according to Article 18(4), the organiser shall submit all relevant proof and details to the Approved Body 8 which, as per Article 18(5) and (6), will calculate the minimum amount required and inform the organiser accordingly. In this way, there is sufficient control over the calculation of the amount of the guarantee and less room for arbitrariness. According to Article 18(7), the organiser must then submit to the Approved Body proof of the issued guarantee and the amount covered by it. The Approved Body maintains a register with the organisers which have secured a guarantee and forwards it to the Authorized Service, presumably to facilitate the exercise of its powers described later in this chapter. Other provisions in Article 18 seem less clear. More specifically, Article 18(7) of the Law provides for the exceptional case in which the guarantee amount is not sufficient fully to cover all relevant traveller claims (due to the insolvency arising out of remote and unpredictable risks, which were not taken into account). It states that in this case, the satisfaction of the travellers must be made analogously to the amount of their claims, however it is not clear what this exactly means and how it will be applied in practice. It is worth mentioning that, more generally, the Law does not lay down any procedure to be followed by travellers or the Approved Body in submitting claims or handling claims respectively. Also, Article 18(16) of the Law empowers the Approved Body to allow organisers to provide insolvency protection through a different arrangement than the one described in Article 18(2) to (8), (provided that such arrangement is approved by the Minister). First of all, Article 18(2) to (8) does not introduce an arrangement; it only lays down the rules and procedures relevant to the operation of the arrangement of the guarantee introduced by Article 18(1). It is therefore not clear whether Article 18(16) allows for an arrangement other than a guarantee nor what that (different) arrangement may be , though in the context of the public consultation, the Consumer Protection Service had referred to a fund established by the Approved Body to cover traveller repatriation costs. Moreover, the relevant provision is silent as to whether that other arrangement can be allowed for some (as opposed to all) organisers and what the relevant criteria will be. In this respect, Article 18(16) does not seem readily to exclude discrimination as between organisers. 8 According to Article 18(14) of the Law if the organiser submits false, forged or incomplete proof or details, the Approved Body must report the organiser to the Authorized Service.