Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

270 COLLECTIVE COMMENTARY ABOUT THE NEW PACKAGE TRAVEL DIRECTIVE inconvenience or additional costs, for instance rearrangement of transport or accommodation”. The traveller’s interest bears a significant weight and, therefore, deviations from the original plan 4 can be considered relevant, which result in serious inconveniences, and they trigger the most serious protection of art. 11, paragraph 2. The “significant” trait has to be assessed according to objective indices such as changes to the date of departure, on the type of means of transportation 5 (plane instead of train) or on accommodation 6 (luxury hotel, fourstar hotel). Furthermore, access to environmental, artistic, historical attractions via guided tours or planned trips are important aspects 7 . The organiser must be in a position that requires them to change these essential features and art. 11 (2) requires a justification, with an indication of the reasons, which must not fall within the control of the company, but shall depend on situations that are unrelated to it. According to art. 7, paragraph 2, let. a), specific tourist requests, if accepted, are part of the contract plan. If, at a time after the signing of the agreement, the company is not able to satisfy them, it can use the power provided for by art. 11, paragraph 2. The choice to assimilate this case to the two previous ones, with respect to which it is different, leaves us a little perplexed. The fact that the organiser is unable to meet the traveller’s requests, accepted at the signing of the contract, causes a default and it is strange that this may allow the unilateral modification of the contract so as to restore it to its original content. The EU legislator makes it possible to modulate the package according to individual needs, but leaves the company free to restore the initial program, if it has to. The traveller is provided with weaker protection and the Directive enhances the simplification of package planning, perhaps with the aim of allowing companies to plan their proposals on a large scale. Should the organiser exercise the ius variandi as per art. 11 (2) the traveller may, within a reasonable period set by the organiser, either withdraw or accept the modification in the Italian text. The Directive speaks of termination and, although this interpretation leads to a forcing, it refers to the right of withdrawal, since, without any intervention by the judge, a free expression of will puts an end to the relationship. In this case, the organiser can offer a package of equivalent 4 The deviations must be part of the main characteristics of the tourist services described by art. 5, first paragraph, lett. a) of Directive 2015/2302/EU, referred to by art. 11, second paragraph of the same Directive. 5 See art. 5, first paragraph, lett. a), ii), of Directive 2015/2302/EU. 6 See art. 5, first paragraph, lett. a), iii), of Directive 2015/2302/EU. 7 See art. 5, first paragraph, lett. a), v), of Directive 2015/2302/EU.