Sustainable Tourism Law

THE UNWTO DRAFT CONVENTION ON THE PROTECTION OF TOURISTS 219 exclusive competence of the Union, the only one entitled to negotiate Annex II – Package travel and Annex III – Accommodation . Therefore, if the EU had been interested in influencing politically the development of international standards in matters already governed by detailed legislation, the Commission would have had no choice but to propose to the Council the enactment of an appropriate decision to authorise the opening of negotiations and allow Member States to negotiate the draft Convention 54 . On 27 March 2017, the EU Council took steps to give the Commission a formal mandate to initiate negotiations with the UNWTO Secretariat for the negotiation of Annex II – Package travel and Annex III – Accommodation , while allowing Member States to negotiate Annex I – Assistance obligation of States in Emergency Situations on their own 55 . With reference to the contents of the draft convention and the regulatory choices proposed by the UNWTO, the guidelines for the negotiation of the International Treaty and its Annexes, attached to the EU Council Decision 56 , drew the Commission’s attention to the need to ensure that the draft Convention sets minimum international standards which are compatible with current European legislation. In particular, concerning the level of detail arising from EU rules intended to be transposed into binding minimum standards and recommended practices, special attention should be paid to the need to balance the goal of achieving an adequate minimum set of international standards and the goal of ensuring that a sufficient number of Countries that are not Members of the European Union will sign and ratify the Convention. At the same time, the Council recommends that the 54 The position is clearly expressed not only in the Recommendation but also in the minutes of the Council meeting of 27 March 2017, where it is stated that “through its participation in the negotiations the EU can influence the development of international standards and practices regarding package travel issues and accommodation services which are inspired by EU legislation”. 55 Concerning the “Tourism – International convention on the protection of tourists”, the Outcome of the 3528th Council meeting, Justice and Home Affairs, held in Brussels on 27 and 28 March 2017, confirms that “the Council authorised the Commission to open negotiations on a future international Convention on the protection of tourists and rights and obligations of tourism service providers. The United Nations WorldTourismOrganization (UNWTO) is preparing an international Convention on the protection of tourists and the rights and obligations of tourism service providers. Through its participation in the negotiations the EU can influence the development of international standards and practices regarding package travel issues and accommodation services which are inspired by EU legislation. The draft Convention might be submitted to the General Assembly of the UNWTO in September 2017”. 56 See the Annex Directives for the negotiation of an UNWTO-Convention on the protection of tourists and the rights and obligations of tourism service providers to the Council Decision authorising the opening of negotiations on an UNWTO-Convention on the protection of tourists and the rights and obligations of tourism service providers , document n. ST 6197 2017 ADD 1 COR 1.