Brussels, 24/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - The Council of the EU, the European Parliament and the European Commission failed to reach a compromise on the revision of the package travel directive, at their latest negotiation meeting on Wednesday 22 April (see EUROPE 11040).
According to a Parliament source, there are still two issues holding up the negotiations. The first is the definition of “click-throughs” between different Internet travel sites (for instance, moving from a website selling airline tickets to a hotel reservation website). The Council feels that in order for these two purchases to form a “package”, the name, bank details and email address of the purchaser have to be transmitted. The Parliament, on the other hand, is calling for a more flexible approach. “As far as the Council is concerned, this is a line in the sand”, said a source from that institution.
The second stumbling block is business travel, which the Council wishes to exclude from the scope of application of the directive. However, the Parliament wishes to include only framework contracts taken out between a travel agency and a business, arguing that these contracts already provide protection for business travellers.
The two institutions now need to consider the compromises they would be prepared to make in order to move the dossier forward. However, according to a Latvian Presidency source, “in the Council, we already touch the red line”, and therefore “the Parliament has to make some compromises on what it wants”. (Jean Comte)