Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

1072 COLLECTIVE COMMENTARY ABOUT THE NEW PACKAGE TRAVEL DIRECTIVE State Treasury in relation to injured customers. The judgment of the Regional Court in Warsaw of 28 November 2014 was of precedential importance in this respect (Case No V Ca 594/14) 14 . The situation improved significantly as a result of the second pillar of protection – the Tourist Guarantee Fund 15 , which, after minor changes, was also provided in the new act implementing Directive 2015/2302. Another specific feature of the Polish implementation was the fact that the legislator had increased the level of protection provided for in the Directive 90/314 with regard to certain issues. One can only speculate whether this resulted from a fully conscious decision of the Polish legislator or rather from hectic work related to the adjustment of the Polish law to Community law. For example, a broader definition of package travel 16 or customer rights in the event of a change of contract prior to the start of a package travel 17 could be mentioned in this respect. On the other hand, however, it should be pointed out that the Act on tourist services introduced solutions completely unknown to the EU Directive, which also aimed at improving the situation of the customer. An interesting solution from the customer’s point of view was, for example, the introduction of provisions concerning the time limit for the submission of a complaint by the customer, as well as the time limit for the organiser to reply and the lack of such a reply within 30 days of receiving the complaint 18 . It should also be pointed out that some solutions provided in the Act on tourist services were ahead of those provided for in Directive 2015/2302. In particular, it is worth mentioning the 14 The judgment is available on the following website: https://orzeczenia.ms.gov.pl/. 15 This was achieved pursuant to the Act amending the Act on tourist services and the Act on compulsory insurance, the Insurance Guarantee Fund and the Polish Motor Insurers’ Bureau of 22 July 2016, Dz. U., item1334, which entered into force on 9 September 2016. 16 According to Article 3(2), a package travel is “at least two tourist services constituting a uniform programme and included in the common price, if those services include overnight accommodation or last more than 24 hours or if the programme provides for a change in location”. A broader scope of the definition in the Law results from the indication that we are dealing with a package travel also in the case that at least two tourist services do not cover a period longer than twenty-four hours or do not include overnight accommodation, but the programme provides for a change in location. 17 The Polish legislator omitted the requirement provided for in the Directive that changes to the contract which entitle the customer to withdraw from the contract should be “significant” in nature. 18 Art. 16b(3): “Irrespective of the notification referred to in paragraph 1, the customer may submit a complaint to the travel organiser containing the indication of failure in the manner of contract performance and the identification of his/her demand, within no more than 30 days of the end of the package travel”. Art. 16b (4): “In case of refusal to accept the complaint, the travel organiser is obliged to provide detailed reasons for the refusal in writing”. Art. 16b(5): “If the travel organiser does not respond to the complaint in writing submitted in accordance with paragraph 3 within 30 days from the date of its submission, and in the case of a complaint submitted during the package travel within 30 days from the date of the end of the package travel, it is considered that the complaint is justified”.