S.L. 378.18 Art. 20Role of the Council.

(1) The Council shall assess, in particular on the basis of the information it has received in accordance with regulation 19(1), whether the dispute resolution entities notified to it qualify as ADR entities falling within the scope of these regulations and comply with the quality requirements set out in Part II of these regulations.

(2) The Council shall on the basis of the assessment referred to in sub-regulation (1), list all the ADR entities that have been notified to it and that fulfil the conditions set out in these regulations, which list shall include the following:

(a) the name, the contact details and the website addresses of the ADR entities referred to in this sub-regulation;

(b) their fees, if applicable;

(c) the language or languages in which complaints can be submitted and the ADR procedure conducted;

(d) the types of disputes covered by the ADR procedure;

(e) the sectors and categories of disputes covered by each ADR entity;

(f) the need for the physical presence of the parties or of their representatives, if applicable, including a statement by the ADR entity on whether the ADR procedure is or can be conducted as an oral or a written procedure;

(g) the binding or non-binding nature of the outcome of the procedure; and

(h) the grounds on which the ADR entity may refuse to deal with a given dispute in accordance with regulation 6(1).

(3) The Council shall notify the list referred to in the sub-regulation (2) to the European Commission:

Provided that if any changes are notified to the Council in accordance with the proviso to regulation 19(1), that list shall be updated without undue delay and the relevant information notified to the European Commission.

(4) If a dispute resolution entity listed as ADR entity under these regulations no longer complies with the requirements referred to in sub-regulation (1), the Council shall contact that dispute resolution entity, stating the requirements the dispute resolution entity fails to comply with and requesting it to ensure compliance immediately:

Provided that if the dispute resolution entity after a period of three months still does not fulfil the requirements referred to in sub-regulation (1), the Council shall then remove the dispute resolution entity from the list referred to in sub-regulation (2), which list shall be updated without undue delay and the relevant information notified to the European Commission by the Council.

(5) By 9 July 2018, and every four years thereafter, the Council shall publish and send to the European Commission a report on the development and functioning of ADR entities, which report shall in particular:

(a) identify best practices of ADR entities;

(b) point out the shortcomings, supported by statistics, that hinder the functioning of ADR entities for both domestic and cross-border disputes, where appropriate; and

(c) make recommendations on how to improve the effective and efficient functioning of ADR entities, where appropriate.