Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

ARTICLE 1 | F. JAVIER MELGOSA ARCOS 53 actions of the Member States has been recognized. In accordance with Article 195 TFEU (Title XXII) it provides: “1. The Union shall complement the action of the Member States in the tourism sector, in particular by promoting the competitiveness of Union companies in that sector. To that end, Union action shall be aimed at: (a) encouraging the creation of a favourable environment for the development of undertakings in this sector. (b) promoting cooperation between the Member States, particularly by the exchange of good practice. 2. The European Parliament and the Council under the ordinary legislative procedure, shall establish specific measures to complement the actions carried out in Member States to achieve the objectives mentioned in this Article, excluding any harmonization of the provisions laws and regulations of the Member States”. However, the fact that there was no existence until now of an explicit competence in tourism does not mean that the European Union has not had an impact on tourism. On the contrary, the influence has been remarkable from other policies such as the consumer protection or regional development ones. As RAMÓN ARCARONS (2004, p. 54) remarked “ the lack of specific legal basis on tourism in the Treaty has not been an obstacle for the EU to have undertaken a wide and diverse range of direct and indirect measures related to tourism, from general provisions of the Treaty (Art.308 and 94) and /or provisions that are based on sector policies or initiatives ”. We have to keep in mind the multidisciplinary nature of tourismand, therefore, it has been approached fromother EUpolicies (consumers and users, environmental protection, cultural policy,... etc.). The policy of consumer protection is enshrined in Article 169 TFEU (ex Article 153 TEC), although the design of this policy dates back to the seventies. The notion of consumer was included first in the Single European Act and in the Maastricht Treaty; consumer protection was raised to the rank of Community policy. With the Treaty of Amsterdam a new boost is given by providing that the main objectives are the protection of health, safety and economic interests of consumers, as well as promoting their right to information, education is given and means to organize themselves to safeguard their interests. Furthermore, it stated in that article (129a) the need for other policies to take into account the definition and implementation of consumer protection.