Brussels, 05/12/2014 (Agence Europe) - The Competitiveness Council reached a general approach on Thursday 4 December on the proposal updating the directive on package travel (Directive 90/314/EEC).
The proposal, presented in July 2013, seeks to adapt the legislation to the digital age and to extend the definition of package travel to all kinds of travel comprising a combination of at least two services (flight and hotel reservation, for example). The general approach looks to extend the current protection for traditional pre-arranged packages to combinations of separate travel services (combination of travel services).
The level of harmonisation will be total with open clauses (some delegations would have preferred minimal harmonisation or full targeted harmonisation).
The text will harmonise rules and compliance costs to promote fair competition conditions and will eliminate barriers to cross-border trade by providing the industry, in particular SMEs, with more opportunities. It will offer a wider range of tour agencies and tour products and should lead to a reduction in costs for consumers.
The text makes provision for compensation for consumers if extraordinary circumstances prevent travel, and protection for the traveller if a carrier goes bust (reimbursement or return home).
This general approach will allow negotiations to be opened with the Parliament which agreed its first reading position in March (see EUROPE 11040). The aim is to reach a first reading agreement.
The Dutch delegation did not support the general approach. It put down a statement in the minutes of the Council meeting, stating its opposition to the introduction of the concept of package travel and regretted the overly heavy administrative load on SMEs.
Internal Market Commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska said that the Council had managed to strike “a reasonable balance targeting a level of harmonisation with open clauses but with limited effect”.
The European Consumers' Office (BEUC) is pleased that the text offers greater clarity for consumers and allows the member states to maintain certain protection standards. However, it notes shortcomings. The BEUC regrets, for example, that: - if consumers purchase different services consecutively, some online travel traders will not be liable for problems in the chain (e.g. hotel, car hire or excursions); - stranded travellers will have their right to accommodation assistance reduced to a maximum of three nights; - the right to be offered an alternative package if the trader changes the conditions before departure has been deleted and the right of the trader to increase the price before departure is wider than in some EU member states, such as Germany, Austria, Bulgaria and Cyprus. (AN with MD)