Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

Most Critical Aspects of the Transposition into Belgian Law Ilse Meyers 1 Introduction; Part 1. Belgian legislator’s options with respect to the transposition of Directive 2015/2302/EU: A. Scope; B. Right of withdrawal; C. Liability; D. Amendment of other contract terms and conditions; E. Statute of limitations; F. Financial failure insurance for retailers; G. Conclusion; Part 2. Guidelines formulated by the Administration of the Federal Public Service Economy and other initiatives to clarify the Travel Law: A. Introduction; B. Guidelines: Law dated 21 November 2017 pertaining to the sale of package travel, linked travel arrangements and other travel services; C. Guidelines: Exclusion of package travel offered and linked travel arrangements facilitated, occasionally and on a not-for-profit basis and only to a limited group of travellers; D. General Terms and Conditions of the Travel Arbitration Committee; E. Conclusion; Part 3. Lack of clarity and interpretation issues in the new Travel Law: A. Anomalies; B. Cross border interpretation issues; Conclusion. INTRODUCTION Belgium was one of the countries that voted against the new Package Travel Directive. The Belgian Government highlighted the negative impact of the Directive in terms of the information obligations and poorly formulated definitions and, consequently, opposed it. The Directive was adopted nevertheless, and the Member States were given until 18 January to transpose it into national law. The new Travel Law took effect on 1 July 2018. 1 Secretary-General ABTO.