Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

156 COLLECTIVE COMMENTARY ABOUT THE NEW PACKAGE TRAVEL DIRECTIVE Another problem was the possibility that a MS regulator would require compliance with its own rules on the security obligation even if the out-of- -state organiser claimed to have insolvency protection in the MS of its establishment 7 . The EU Commission consulted widely with stakeholders – MS, consumer bodies, industry and others – on, among other things, whether the security obligation should be extended to include travel arrangements booked through the new online sales channels, problem encountered in administering the security scheme and preferred policy options. It produced two summaries of responses obtained during the different phases of consultation 8 . While most focus in the responses was on the problems identified by the Commission, belief in the effectiveness of the security system was strong. “More than 60% of Member States authority respondents indicated that they felt the insolvency protection scheme in their countries were either effective or very effective.” 9 . The summaries of responses from stakeholders reflect the concerns highlighted by the Commission 10 . Almost everyone wanted clarification on what variants of the new booking methods did and did not constitute a package. Most stakeholders also wanted the 1990 Directive extended to cover the facilitators of the new online travel arrangements. A minority of stakeholders did not, presumably those exploiting the new online technologies, except for repatriation in the event of insolvency 11 . Concerns were expressed that traditional tour operators were subject to “different rules and different costs compared to [the providers of online booking services]” 12 . At the same time when the Commission launched its proposal for a new directive in 2013 – including, among other things, proposing to extend the insolvency obligation, not the performance obligations, to the facilitators of the new online booking methods, now called ‘linked travel arrangements’ [LTA’s] – it 7 Ibid. 8 EU Commission [2007b], Working Document of the Commission, Responses to the consultation on the Council Directive 90/314/EEC of 13 June 1990 on package travel, package holidays and package tours; EU Commission [2010], Summary of responses to the consultation launched to gather stakeholder’s opinion on the existing problems and preferred solutions in order to identify preferred policy options as part of the Commission’s review of the Package Travel Directive. 9 EU Commission [2010], p 6. 10 EU Commission [2007b], p 2; EU Commission,[2010], p 2. 11 EU Commission [2007b], p 6. 12 EU Commission [2013], Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on package travel and assisted travel arrangements, amending Regulation [EC] No 2006/2064, Directive 2011/83/EEC and repealing Council Directive 90/314/EEC, p 3.