Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

SPAIN | GEA GÓMEZ-PABLOS PINTO 1193 economic regulation) and the protection of consumers, who are the first beneficiaries of a competitive market. The Directive 2015/2302, and subsequently the Royal Decree-Law analysed by the CNMC, seeks to find the balance between both a high level in consumers’ protection and the competitiveness of businesses and, at the same time, seeks to consolidate the Internal Market, eliminating existing disparities. The 2018 Royal Decree-Law modifies some of the articles of the Consumers Act, specifically article 93 and articles 150 to 165. These last 15 articles are in Book IV of the Act, which is divided into three titles and that, from now on, changes its name, since it is dedicated to package travel and linked travel arrangements. From a general point of view, the CNMC assessment was positive, given that, on the one hand, the new law reinforces the protection of consumers by offering themmore pre-contractual information and defense mechanisms against possible breaches of travel services. On the other hand, it contemplates instruments to reinforce the existence of a real internal market for cross-border travel services. There are three main observations on this authority’s report. The first recommendation refers to the requirement of a guarantee against insolvency, as an obligation for the provider of the package travel service, which is regulated in articles 164 and 165 of the Consumers Act. The Article 164, titled “ Effectiveness and scope of the guarantee against insolvency ”, introduces the forms to be covered by the guarantee, stating that it may be established through the creation of a guarantee fund or any other financial guarantee. The CNMC recalled that, depending on how it is implemented, the guarantee requirement could imply a restriction of competition. For example, the setting of minimum thresholds contains potentially a proportionately greater burden on new companies wishing to enter the market or smaller companies. For this reason, CNMC assessed in a positive way that the new provisions expressly refer to Law 20/2013, on the Guarantee of the Market Unit, by establishing that the requirement of a guarantee will be subject, in all cases, to the provisions of the aforementioned law. In addition, the CNMC noted that the liability requirement was only linked to package travel. Therefore it recommended extending its mention also to linked travels arrangement. The draft of the new Act noted that the coverage of the guarantee could be calculated based on certain data, such as the volume of business for package travel of the previous years, and should be adapted to certain situations of risk, especially due to a significant increase in the sale of these services.