Decision ID: 001184

In October 2000 the 1992 Fund Executive Committee considered the admissibility of a claim for losses by a British-based holiday company which owned mobile homes at various sites along the coastline affected by the incident as well as in other locations in continental Europe. It was noted that the company had maintained that it had taken all opportunities to relocate business from the affected area, but that the incident had nevertheless resulted in a substantial loss in terms of holidays sold and margins achieved. The Committee considered that although the company was based in the United Kingdom, given that it owned and operated mobile homes in the affected area and employed significant numbers of local people, there was geographic proximity between the claimant’s activity and the contamination and the business formed an integral part of the economic activity within the affected area. The Committee also considered that since a major part of the company’s business relied on sites on the French Atlantic coast, the company was economically dependent on this activity. The Committee therefore decided that a claim for losses suffered in the business carried out in the affected area was admissible in principle.