Brussels, 12/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - The MEPs of the Parliamentary committee on the internal market and consumer protection favour modernisation of the directive on package travel (pre-arranged holiday packages) to bring it into line with the digital era and better protect the rights of consumers buying a traditional or bespoke package holiday online, irrespective of whether this is from an individual operator or several operators linked by a commercial partnership. In their adoption of the report by Hans Peter Mayer (EPP, Germany) by a large majority (35 votes to 2) on 11 February, they got behind the proposal put forward by the Commission in July of last year to breathe new life into Directive 90/314/EEC, but they went even further by seeking to improve the provisions of it (see EUROPE 10884).
“The most important thing is that consumers are given all of the information they need before signing the contract and guaranteeing that one party is responsible for the quality of the service for all services contained within the package”, the rapporteur stressed.
The MEPs want travel operators not to be able to make substantial changes to flight schedules once the booking has been made.
They reject automatic surcharges. Additional charges once the contract has been concluded should be authorised only if the fuel costs borne by the airline, taxes or airport taxes increase. If the price rises by more than 8% (the European Commission stated 10%), travellers should be able to cancel their booking without any cost and decide between being reimbursed what they have already paid, including insurance costs and activities during the holiday, or being offered an equivalent alternative holiday. Any drop in price of more than 3% should be passed on to the consumer.
In the event of extraordinary and unavoidable circumstances preventing the traveller from returning home as planned, it will be the responsibility of the travel operator to arrange accommodation, taking account of the hotel category of the initial reservation. If the operator does not wish to make the booking, the MEPs want the consumer to be compensated for up to 5 nights of accommodation, at up to €125 a night.
The European Parliament will vote at its March plenary session. The new directive will apply from early 2017. (AN/transl.fl)