Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

208 COLLECTIVE COMMENTARY ABOUT THE NEW PACKAGE TRAVEL DIRECTIVE As a result, the Directive 2015/2302 harmonises rights and obligations arising from contracts relating to package travel and to linked travel arrangements : information obligations and content of the package travel; requirements for the possible changes to the package travel contract before the start of the travel; performance of the package; traveller’s protection against the insolvency of the organiser of the package travel and the linked travel arrangements; and other aspects related to the linked travel arrangements with a stringency level in the internal legislation, resulting from the transposition of the directive, that cannot be increased nor reduced . 1.The information obligations and content of the package travel become demanding in the new directive and they result in a high level of responsibility for the trader. This is reflected in chapter II (pre-contractual information, binding character of pre-contractual information and conclusion of the package travel contract, content of the package travel contract and documents to be supplied before the start of the package) and the burden of proof as regards compliance with such information requirements is clearly on the trader (art. 8). The directive takes into account that the evolution of the market of package travel allows multiple combinations that can be confusing for the consumer. Therefore, in order for the travellers to make informed choices between the offered types of travel, traders must clearly specify if they are offering a package travel or linked travel arrangements, as well as the corresponding level of protection, before the traveller agrees to pay. The declaration of the trader about the legal nature of the travel product being marketed should always correspond to the true legal nature of the product concerned. 2. Changes to the package travel contract before the start of the package (harmonised in chapter III). The traveller has the right to transfer the package travel contract to another traveller, as well as to terminate the contract of the package travel at any time before the start of the package. On the other side, the trader allows a minimum margin to the right to alter the price after the conclusion of the contract, as well as the possible alteration of other contract terms. Under some circumstances, the organisers must be authorised to introduce unilateral changes to the package travel contract. However, travellers should have the right to terminate the package