The European Parliament’s Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) examined amendments to the Package Travel Directive on Tuesday 20 May. Compromises are beginning to emerge, but the definition and limitation of advance payments still need to be discussed.
Unlike the rapporteur, Alex Agius Saliba (S&D, Maltese), who stuck close to the original proposal (see EUROPE 13589/8), the other MEPs, like the EU Council (see EUROPE 13549/38), want to abolish “linked travel arrangements” (‘LTAs’). “This compromise of excluding LTAs, but having a stronger overall definition should lead to some more clarity and certainty for consumers about what passenger travel is, which we welcome”, stressed Katrin Langensiepen (Greens/EFA, German).
Arba Kokalari (EPP, Swedish) also argued that “We want to delete the limitation of prepayments, the linked travel arrangements and the unclear definitions”. She does not want to impose too heavy a burden on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or complicated and unclear rules on consumers.
The rapporteur advocated limiting advance payments to 25%, which he felt would reduce consumers’ exposure to the package organiser. “This [measure] would be destructive to so many businesses that rely on seasonal tourism and upfront cash flow. And this is not just a theoretical risk. These are real businesses”, refuted Cynthia Ní Mhurchú (Renew Europe, Irish).
In his report, Mr Agius Saliba wanted to make vouchers more attractive, but optional. This idea convinced all the MEPs, with a slight nuance for Klara Dostalova (PfE, Czech). “We should have obligatory vouchers, but only in such cases where supplies of services from third countries do not give back the money within seven days”, she said. She fears that, without this measure, the reimbursements will fall back on national budgets or European companies.
Finally, the rapporteur pointed out that a grievance mechanism had been introduced into the directive’s enforcement article, that the level of fines had been harmonised and that voluntary alternative dispute resolution had been introduced.
Read the amendments: https://aeur.eu/f/gye (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)