Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

1082 COLLECTIVE COMMENTARY ABOUT THE NEW PACKAGE TRAVEL DIRECTIVE criticises the fact that the travel organiser is not required to provide the traveller with these documents and information “in good time” before the start of the package travel, a term which is contained in Article 7(5) of the Directive 36 . In light of the literal interpretation of Article 42(11) of the A.P.T., the travel organiser may provide the traveller with the required documents and information at any time before the start of the package travel, even if that time is not regarded as sufficient under the provisions of Directive 2015/2302 (such as, for example, providing the traveller with information on the planned departure time a few hours prior). (12) Pursuant to Article 11(2) of Directive 2015/2302, in cases when the organiser is constrained to alter significantly any of the main characteristics of the travel services as referred to in point (a) of the first subparagraph of Article 5(1) or cannot fulfil the special requirements, or proposes to increase the price of the package by more than 8%, the traveller may within a reasonable period specified by the organiser accept the proposed change or terminate the contract without paying a termination fee. According to the Article 11(3)(c) of the Directive, in such a case, the traveller should be provided with information on the consequences of the traveller’s failure to respond within the indicated period, in accordance with applicable national law. The Polish law (Article 46(3)(3) of the A.P.T.) provides that the notification shall contain information on withdrawal from the package travel contract against reimbursement of all payments made and without the obligation to pay the withdrawal fee if the traveller fails to respond within the prescribed period. (13) In accordance with Article 50(3) of the A.P.T., the traveller is not entitled to compensation or an appropriate amount of money for lack of conformity if the travel organiser proves that: 1) the fault for the lack of conformity is attributable to the traveller; 2) the fault for the lack of conformity is attributable to a third party unconnected with the provision of the travel services included in the package travel contract, and the lack of conformity could not have been foreseen or avoided; 3) the lack on conformity was due to unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances. This provision is intended to implement Article 14(3) of Directive 2015/2302. According to this article, the traveller shall not be entitled to compensation for damages if the organiser proves that the lack of conformity is: (a) attributable to the traveller; (b) attributable to a third party 36 See K. Kryla-Cudna, Commentary on Article 42 of the A.P.T., [in:] K. Osajda (ed.), Komentarze …