Sustainable Tourism Law

562 SUSTAINABLE TOURISM LAW with regards to consumer protection, taking into account the higher information requirements, as well as the other measures to protect them against the non- -fulfilment of services. The report also considers that the internal market on cross-border travel services is reinforced by means of the draft bill. Nevertheless, the National Commission on Markets and Competition expresses in its report its disagreement with the draft bill with regards to the guarantees. In particular, the report considers that there are some aspects in the text of the draft bill about the requirement of a guarantee to provide these services that could potentially imply some restrictions to competition. Notwithstanding the recognition of the basic and open character of this national legislation, the report points out that the possibility left to autonomous authorities to request such guarantees may give rise to some concerns of restriction of competition, depending on the particular way that such guarantees are required. Establishing minimum requirements may imply a higher burden for new market entrants or smaller companies. Major concerns are expressed in the report with regards to the criteria set for the calculation of the guarantee coverage. As already mentioned, its amount shall be adapted as risks rise, especially when this happens as a consequence of an increase of the sale of such travels. The lack of a proper definition for it, as it does not indicate whether this adaptation is supposed to be made by the company itself or stated by the autonomous regulation, leads the Spanish Competition Commission to recommend more precision when doing such a reference, in particular by setting objective parameters. The report has also considered the use of the concept of “insolvency”. The Spanish legal system already has a regulation for cases of insolvency within the Insolvency Act. Thus, it would be desirable that the tourism regulation makes it clear if the references made to insolvency situations relate to formal insolvency proceedings or -as it seems more suitable- if they relate to occasional failures to provide the services. Thus, the report recommends cross-referencing between both regulations when such doubts may arise.

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