Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

292 COLLECTIVE COMMENTARY ABOUT THE NEW PACKAGE TRAVEL DIRECTIVE valid. Moreover, according to Article 42, paragraph 1 of theTourismCode, the tourist that refuses his right to benefit of another travel package, of equivalent or superior quality without a price supplement or of a lower quality travel package after the return of the price difference, has the right of reimbursement of the amount of money already paid within seven business days from the time of withdrawal or cancellation. Observing jointly the above regulations, we can see that a clause that gives to the tour operator the right to withdraw free and without charges would be contrary to the law for the Government and, therefore, unlawful. Add to this how the Tourism Code has also foreseen an important exemption to the general regulation requiredby theCivilCode, in reference to the case ofwithdrawal, due to changes in overcharge according to Article 1467 and further. According to Article 40 of the Tourism Code, this shows how the EU legislator has foreseen the possibility for organisers and intermediaries to unilaterally review the initially agreed package price, prior to it taking place, within twenty days before departure and to an extent that does not exceed 10%. Furthermore, the right mentioned above has to be clearly indicated in the contract, together with the calculation methods. The review of it is allowed only when the additional costs derive from transportation, fuel, rights and taxes (such as landing and arriving in airports or ports) variation costs, as well as the exchange rate applied. Other than that, after the reimbursement of the amount already paid the tourist has the right to withdraw or, as an alternative to the reimbursement, he can demand an alternative package without a price supplement. In particular, if the package travel withdrawal is not justified as a force majeure case, in accordance with Article 42 of theTourismCode, it can be qualified as a non-fulfilment by the operator, consequently giving the tourist the right to obtain a compensation for damage. It follows from the regulations above that tourist withdrawal is not excluded, but is added to the overcharge. Therefore, the level of tourist protection has increased. Moreover, the amount of information by the operator has worsened, given that to be able to execute the unilateral price change, the tourist must have been previously informed.The organiser or intermediary also have the duty to prove through a written letter the cost variation, in order to request the unilateral change of the terms taken into consideration. Additionally, the tourist also has the right to obtain a review of the package price in the event of a decrease in cost services or of the exchange rate, regardless if the contract foresees it or not. By interpreting Article 40 of the Tourism Code together with the regulations of Article 4.4, Letter a), Directive 90/314 / EEC, according to which the clause related to unilateral changes include increasing and decreasing price review, it creates a situation of equality between the parties regarding future events influencing the price. The only chance organisers or intermediaries have