On Wednesday 18 December, Member States’ ambassadors to the European Union (Coreper) are due to adopt the EU Council’s negotiating position (‘general approach’) on the revision of the directive governing package travel. They are said to have finally decided to delete the provisions relating to linked travel arrangements (LTAs) (see EUROPE 13528/13).
According to the compromise proposal dated Monday 9 December and obtained by Agence Europe, the Hungarian Presidency of the Council is of the opinion that “the rules on linked travel arrangements introduced in 2015 have led to considerable complexity in the legislative framework, including in the information to be provided to travellers”. “This created scope for legal uncertainty in the delimitation between packages and linked travel arrangements as well as between linked travel arrangements and stand-alone travel services, while there is no evidence that linked travel arrangements provided tangible benefits for travellers”, it adds.
The definition of the concept of ‘package’ has therefore been adjusted accordingly in the legislative text.
“At the same time, in certain booking situations not leading to the creation of a package, travellers should be warned that they will not enjoy the protection associated with packages”, it states.
Given that the package is defined by online booking processes that require information about the traveller to be transmitted via an online booking system, the Hungarian Presidency proposes limiting the information about the traveller. “Such data must enable the involved traders to establish that the same traveller is party to the relevant contracts and may include, for example, the traveller’s name, payment details, email address, telephone number, or social media account”, the text states.
Data that does not enable the involved traders to establish that the same traveller is party to the relevant contracts, such as, for example, an IP address identifying a device, is not sufficient.
The Hungarian Presidency suggests maintaining the 24-hour rule, i.e. if a traveller books two or more different types of travel services, for the same journey or holiday, no later than 24 hours after confirmation of the booking of the first travel service, it is a package. The traveller’s information must also be passed on by the first trader to one or more other traders.
With regard to vouchers, the text stipulates that when the organiser offers a voucher to the traveller and before the traveller explicitly accepts it, the organiser must inform the traveller clearly and prominently on a durable medium. The voucher may be used for any travel service offered by the organiser.
In the event of the travel organiser’s insolvency, the security must take into account that this insolvency may occur at a time when the organisers hold the highest amounts of payments, as well as any changes in the volume of sales of packages.
Read the Hungarian compromise proposal: https://aeur.eu/f/euy (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)