Stakeholders will be getting yet another chance at getting their voice heard insofar as the proposed revision of the current law regulating package travel in Europe is concerned. The European Commission will shortly be holding a stakeholders' workshop with the precise objective of collecting the views of interested parties before forging ahead with the drafting of a new law.
The current EU law on package travel which dates back to 1990 offers consumers protection whenever they purchase a package holiday. Package holidays are pre-arranged holiday packages which combine transport and accommodation or other tourist services at an inclusive price. The current law makes provision for a number of obligations with which the travel organiser or retailer must comply.
In particular, the organiser or retailer must provide the consumer with detailed information regarding the holiday at all stages and the law lays down particular requirements as to the type of information which ought to be printed on brochures.
Prices agreed upon at the time of purchase of the holiday are binding and exceptions to this rule are few and listed exhaustively in the law itself. No price increase is permitted during the last 20 days before departure. If any of the essential elements of the package agreed upon are changed or if the organiser or retailer cancels the package, the consumer has the right to withdraw from the contract and get a full refund. Furthermore, if the package is cancelled by the organiser or retailer, the consumer may in certain cases also have the right to compensation in addition to the full refund. As a rule, the organiser is also held responsible for the smooth operation of the holiday.
Since this law came into force, the way that European citizens plan out their holidays has changed rapidly. The availability of the internet has made it possible for consumers to make holiday reservations themselves using the websites of airlines, hotels, rail, cruise, bus and coach companies, retailers and organisers. Often consumers now put together their own holiday components from different organisers, instead of opting for packages pre-arranged by an organiser or a retailer. Travel market developments have indeed almost erased any distinction between airlines, travel organisers and travel retailers. Airlines offer on their web pages accommodation, car rental and other travel components in addition to the flight, while travel organisers now sell packages including scheduled flights, or offer "seat only" with charter carriers.
The sale of package holidays by specific organisers has therefore now dwindled. It is the protection of consumers who are putting together the different components on offer which has become the primary focus of any future legislative measure on travel. As the situation now stands, it may not always be clear which travel arrangements are covered by the current law. By way of example, after booking a flight on the website of an airline company, the consumer may be prompted to book a hotel and/or car rental and is then directed to separate websites.
If the bookings of the different services are subject to separate contracts made with distinct companies and with separate payments, the package may not fall within the ambit of the current law. Often it is not made clear to the consumer that different protection applies for more or less identical travel packages, which are sold differently. Such a situation is clearly creating legal uncertainty for both industry and consumers.
It therefore comes as no surprise that the Commission has deemed it essential to amend the current package travel directive in such a way as to reflect modern realities. The Commission's objective is now to collect feedback from stakeholders in order to be in a position to assess the different policy options presented and possibly publish a new proposed law on package travel later on in the year.
Dr Vella Cardona is a practising lawyer and a freelance consultant in EU, intellectual property, consumer protection and competition law. She is also a visiting lecturer at the University of Malta.
mariosa@vellacardona.com