Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

1124 COLLECTIVE COMMENTARY ABOUT THE NEW PACKAGE TRAVEL DIRECTIVE than sorry, the French jurisprudence has stated and, at the same time, imposed the recognition of a general obligation on the part of the contractors to inform their partners. EU law has taken over and developed this obligation to inform, which has since become a principle of law in the field of consumer law. Directive (EU) 2015/2302 provides that Member States “shall ensure that, before the traveller is bound by any package travel contract or any corresponding offer, the organiser and, where the package is sold through a retailer, also the retailer shall provide the traveller with the standard information…”. The Romanian State, through the Government Ordinance no. 2 / 2018, has fulfilled this obligation by sanctioning with a fine 4 the organiser or the retailer of package travel and linked travel arrangements that do not fulfill its obligation to inform the traveller. But this sanction, even if it also has a punitive and deterrent role for the trader, for the tourist consumer it is only a means through which the state obtains some additional revenue.. In other words, the traveller (or the “consumer”) who contracted without having been provided with the relevant and legally binding information and who would not have contracted if he had been informed in advance, is not explicitly provided with any means of action against the “professional” with whom he concluded the contract. In addition, the validity of the contract can not be called into question in a easily and accessible way for the consumer. At least not with arguments provided by Directive (EU) 2015/2302. Directive (EU) 2011/83 on Consumer Rights, after generally regulating in article no. 5 and no. 6 the traders’ obligation to provide consumers with a set of information, states in Article 24 (1) that “ Member States shall lay down the rules on penalties applicable to infringements of the national provisions adopted pursuant to this Directive and shall take all necessary measures to ensure their implementation. These penalties must be effective, proportionate and dissuasive.”. However, this Article 24 of the Directive no. (EU) 2011/83 is not applicable to the package travel contracts and linked travel arrangements. Only the provisions of Art. 6 (7), Art. 8 par. (2) and (6) and Art. 19, 21 and 22 of Directive (EU) 2011/83 are applicable in these areas. The other provisions of Directive (EU) 2011/83 are explicitly excluded from the application of any contractual obligation on packages of travel services as 4 The fine limits range from about 800 to 4000 euros.