Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

1244 COLLECTIVE COMMENTARY ABOUT THE NEW PACKAGE TRAVEL DIRECTIVE The proposal is complementary to existing EU law, in particular the Unfair Contract Terms Directive (93/13/EEC), the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (2005/29/EC), the Consumer Rights Directive (2011/83/EU), the Regulations in the area of passenger rights (Regulations (EC) No. 2004/261, (EC) No. 1371/2007, (EC) No. 1177/2010 and (EC) No. 181/2011) as well as Directives 2000/31/EC on electronic commerce and 2006/123/EC on services in the internal market. Furthermore, the proposal is complementary to Regulation (EC) No 593/2008 (Rome I) on the law applicable to contractual obligations, and to Regulation 44/2001 (Brussels I) on the law on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgements in civil and commercial matters. 2. RESULTS OF CONSULTATIONS WITH THE INTERESTED PARTIES AND IMPACT ASSESSMENTS 2.1. Consultation of interested parties In 2008, in a public consultation on its 2007 working document, the Commission receivedmore than 80 contributions frombusiness stakeholders, consumer organisations, lawyers, academics and 14 Member States. In January 2009, the Commission launched the Consumer Detriment Study, which covered 17 EU countries and was based on interviews with a sample of 500 consumers. In a second public consultation of October 2009, consisting of five on-line questionnaires targeted at consumers, consumer organisations, businesses, industry associations and Member States/public authorities, 89% of public authorities, 70% of business associations, 64% of businesses and 96% of consumer organisations supported a revision of the Directive. In a workshop for Member States of 27 October 2009 particular problems and policy options were discussed. A subgroup of the European Consumer Consultative Group (ECCG) adopted its opinion on 21 April 2010. On 22 April 2010 a stakeholder workshop discussed the impacts of the identified policy options. From September 2009 to October 2010 more than 15 interviews with key industry representatives were conducted. In March 2012 the Commission commissioned a study to test a Package Travel Label and consumer behaviour when purchasing so-called dynamic packages. In June 2012 the Commission organised a workshop for Member States and a stakeholder conference to further discuss the revision process. On 8 February 2013 the ECCG again requested a revision of the Directive.