Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

ARTICLE 7 | JOSEP MARIA BECH SERRAT 239 2. A COPY OR CONFIRMATION OF THE CONTRACT ON A DURABLE MEDIUM The first subparagraph of Art. 7(1) of the new Package Travel Directive requires that the traveller shall be provided with a copy or confirmation of the contract on a durable medium by the organiser or retailer at the conclusion of the package travel contract or without undue delay thereafter (second sentence). The durable medium requirement will be particularly relevant for traveller protection in that it will ensure that essential information regarding the contract will be accessible and can be referred to throughout the lifetime of the contract and thereafter 17 . Regarding off-premises contracts, a copy or confirmation of the package travel contract must be provided to the traveller on paper or, if the traveller agrees, on another durable medium 18 . However, where the package travel contract is not an off-premises contract, i.e. a contract concluded on premises or at a distance, it will be for the organiser or retailer to opt for the type of the durable medium to be used, e.g. paper, a USB stick, a CD-ROM, a DVD, memory cards, e-mail. 3. THE CONTENT OF THE COPY OR CONFIRMATION OF THE CONTRACT Art. 7(2) of the new Package Travel Directive provides that the copy or confirmation of the contract shall set out the full content of the agreement which shall include all the pre-contractual information referred to in points (a) to (h) of the first subparagraph of Article 5(1) and additional information. Some of the additional items were addressed to particular needs of the traveller (points (a) and (f )), whereas the other items were formulated in standard terms, i.e. they will be applied to all the package travel contracts and they were aimed at providing the traveller with information for the case of non-performance of the travel services. 17 As for a definition of durable medium, see point (11) of Art. 3 of the new Package Travel Directive. Cf. Howells, Twigg-Flesner and Wilhelmsson, Rethinking EU Consumer Law , cit., p. 96. 18 See Art. 7(1) of the new Package Travel Directive, subparagraph second, referring to off-premises contracts as defined in point (8) of Article 2 CRD.