Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

202 COLLECTIVE COMMENTARY ABOUT THE NEW PACKAGE TRAVEL DIRECTIVE European Union law unifies the diversity of regulations on the same matter that can be found in the different civil laws. A key element in the European integration is the development of a process of legal standardisation of national laws that is formal and centralised because it is carried out by Community institutions using harmonising directives through the approval of binding rules (at least for the States). 2. SECONDARY EUROPEAN UNION LEGISLATION: DIRECTIVES The European Union law is made up of the set of provisions issued by EU bodies with legislative competence that can take the form of regulations, directives, decisions, recommendations or opinions. Article 288 (ex articles 189 and 249) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) states that “to exercise the Union’s competences, the institutions shall adopt regulations, directives, decisions, recommendations and opinions” . The directives are not a univocal and one-dimensional concept causing typical effects. There are different groups of directives with different effects according to their degree of interrelation and interconnection with the rules contained in the treaties. However, the following characters of a directive must be mentioned: a) Sui generis regulatory nature addressed to harmonise the legislation of the Member States. Thus, article 115 of the TFEU provides that “without prejudice to Article 114, the Council shall, acting unanimously in accordance with a special legislative procedure and after consulting the European Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee, issue directives for the approximation of such laws, regulations or administrative provisions of the Member States as directly affect the establishment or functioning of the internal market” . Harmonisationwill reach a high level considering health, safety, environmental protection and consumer protection, and it also states that any new development based on scientific facts must be in particular taken into account [article 114(3) of the TFEU, ex article 249 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU)]. b) It shall be binding, as to the result to be achieved, upon each Member State to which it is addressed, but shall leave to the national authorities the choice of form and methods (article 288 TFEU, ex article 249 TEU), so that the regulatory provision better adapts the internal legal order.