Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

ARTICLE 12 | FRANCESCO TORCHIA 295 Considering the above, we can find the reasons (highlighted by the Commission’s communication of 06/30/2010) for an intervention aimed to modernize the regulations on travel packages and, particularly, to overcome the gaps applied by Directive 90/314 / EEC Council on travel, vacations and all-inclusive tours. Although this directive already established a significant protection for clients of traditional “pre-packaged travel packages” , it is clear that this is not the case of new online sale methods and offers of “customized packages” or “connected tourist services” (purchase of flight tickets and hotels bought simultaneously, but offered by different operators). In addition, the Court of Justice decision has already expressed its opinion in this situation by recognizing the need to extend the protection, which was already established by the previous directive, applying as well to “personalized” trips offered by travel agencies and to strengthen tourists’ protection 23 . In other words, the existing regulation is no longer appropriate to changes in this “digital era” because of new sales methods and regarding the changes in consumer behaviour in terms of new tourist services combinations. The aforementioned involves a “legal fragmentation” against the internal tourism market improvement, making it more difficult (especially for small businesses) to offer tourism services in a country other than the one of establishment. Additionally, with specific reference to the regulation of termination and withdraw from a package travel contract in organized trips, the EU legislator is well aware of the problems we have tried to highlight before. Proof of this is Directive of 7/9/2013, where the Commission expresses itself in the following terms: “... consumers who buy traditional pre-packaged travel packages suffer a prejudice, as some regulations of the directive are obsolete, confusing or deficient, for example, the failure on recognizing consumers the right to cancel the “all-inclusive” service before departure.” . Consequently, the Commission proposes the following : Concerning the Directive 90/314 / EEC, Article 10 contains additional rights for travellers before the start of the contract execution. The right to withdraw from the contract in exchange for fair compensation (Article 10, Paragraph 1) is a right of travellers according to the regulations and practices found in the Member States. Article 10, Paragraph 2, allows travellers to terminate the contract without having to pay any compensation in case of exceptional and inevitable circumstances occur...”. It follows that, with directive 2015/2302, the legislator has first of all worked to extend the rules used to protect “travellers-consumers” to all travel packages, 23 On this topic, see the sentence of April 30, 2002, plea C-400/00, Club-Tour, and the conclusion of the general lawyer Tizzano, of January 17, 2002.