Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

1020 COLLECTIVE COMMENTARY ABOUT THE NEW PACKAGE TRAVEL DIRECTIVE or its immediate vicinity and significantly affecting the performance of the package or which significantly affect the carriage of passengers to destination” caused, in all European Member States, interpretation and implementation’s difficulties upon transposition. This was also the case in the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg. Indeed, the Commerce Chamber raised the fact that this new concept was not clearly defined and remained vague 17 . It suggested to detail the situation in which the travellers would be entitled to invoke such unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances when they only appear after the conclusion of the contract. It further recommended adding a precision that such unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances should be understood only when there is a risk on the travellers’ safety or health. The recommendations were not followed, and the new Consumer Code simply reproduces the Directive’s provision without any further precision. However, it should be noted that the Law of 25 April 2018 does not expressly reproduce the provisions on travel packages, the right of withdrawal in respect of travel packages concluded at a distance or off-premises as required by Article 12.5 of the Directive. Indeed, the Directive explicitly recognises a right of withdrawal to travellers. Such a right has to be exercised within 14 days from the date of conclusion of the travel package contract. In the absence of any express disposition relating to the travellers’ right of withdrawal, it may be questioned whether such a right is recognised in Luxembourg. In fact, it should be deducted that it was intended to refer to the general provisions on withdrawal under the Luxembourg consumer law, which set out a 14 days delay to exercise this right for contracts concluded at distance or off-premises 18 . Therefore, the right of withdrawal is not expressly excluded for travel packages, and travellers would thus benefit from this. The performance of the travel package contract is under the responsibility of the organiser. The Directive left to the Member States the possibility to extend the responsibility to the retailer. This was not the case for the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg, where, following the transposition of the Directive by the Law of 25 April 2018, the provisions of the Consumer Code relating to responsibility apply only to organisers 19 . 17 Op. cit. at note 3. 18 Article L.221-3 of the Consumer Code. In fact, rules applicable to contracts concluded at a distance or off- -premises are excluded for travel packages (Art. L.113-1 (3) (g) and L.222-2 of the Consumer Code), except for the right of withdrawal. 19 Article L.225-11 of the Consumer Code.