Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

314 COLLECTIVE COMMENTARY ABOUT THE NEW PACKAGE TRAVEL DIRECTIVE a) the lack of conformity is attributable to the traveller; or b) attributable to a third party unconnected with the provision of the services contracted for and is unforeseeable or unavoidable; or c) due to unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances. Any right to compensation for damages or price reduction under this article shall not affect the rights of travellers under Regulation (EC) no. 261/2004, Regulation (EC) no. 1371/2007, Regulation (EU) no. 1177/2010 and Regulation (EU) no. 181/2011. Furthermore, the traveller may address messages, complaints or claims in relation to the performance of the package directly to the retailer through which that package was purchased. The retailer shall forward those messages, complaints or claims to the organiser without undue delay. And, with regard to protection against insolvency: – Organisers of packages and traders facilitating the procurement of linked travel arrangements shall guarantee effective and immediate refund of all payments made by travellers and, insofar as carriage of passengers is included, for the travellers’ effective and prompt repatriation in the event of insolvency, even if it occurs at a time prior to the conclusion of the contract. Continuation of the package may also be offered. – Travellers shall benefit from the protection granted in this article regardless of their place of residence, the place of departure or where the package or linked travel arrangement is sold. – When the performance of the package is affected by the organiser’s insolvency, the security shall be available free of charge to ensure repatriations and, if necessary, the financing of accommodation prior to the repatriation. For travel services that have not been performed, refunds shall be provided without undue delay after the traveller’s request. In terms of pre-contractual duties of information, these apply to organiser and retailer alike. One of the aspects that had reached the courts in Spain was the matter of information on visas and passports, which the Directive now clearly addresses in article 5. This was the case of the ruling of the Provincial Court of Asturias of 7 May 2008: “... it is the lack of pre-contractual information on which the plaintiff is basing his grounds for the claim, and as the respondent says, the infringement of this duty transcends the classification of the business, and even that of the service contracted, as this duty is common, in terms of the consumer, to all types of services of this kind, and thus article 20 of the text of the Consumer Protection Act given by Act 26/1984 stated that it is a basic right of every consumer to be given ‘the