Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

698 COLLECTIVE COMMENTARY ABOUT THE NEW PACKAGE TRAVEL DIRECTIVE защита на потребителите ) of 2005 and the Commerce Act ( Търговски закон ) of 1991 are subsidiary applicable. The Instructions on the application of the Tourism Act regarding the transposition of Directive (EU) 2015/2302 on package travel and linked travel arrangements 4 are consultable on the site of the Ministry of Tourism. Indeed, the last important amendments to the Tourism Act entered into force in May 2018 and concern the transposition of Directive (EU) 2015/2302 on package travel and linked travel arrangements 5 . This intervention of the EU legislator followed the changing business and customer practices in the last decade mainly with regard to the electronic commerce, the purpose being to achieve a high and as uniform as possible level of consumer protection in respect of contracts between travellers and traders relating to package travel and linked travel arrangements 6 . 2. THE COURSE OF THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS RELATED TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF DIRECTIVE (EU) 2015/2302 IN BULGARIA Bulgaria tends to be one of the most law-abiding Members States although in the 12 years of its membership she has a record of contravening the EU legal order 7 . The important feature however is the good and sincere will of all political forces to comply with the requirements of the EU, which are considered to be right and valuable for the problems of the country. All transposition acts follow a generally smooth path first within the ministerial and inter-ministerial working groups and then through the parliament. Meanwhile any comments and proposals from the European Commission are always welcome. The needed time for the completion of this process; it could take a year or a year and a half. 4 http://www.tourism.government.bg/bg/kategorii/strategicheski-dokumenti/ukazaniya-po-prilagane-na- -razporedbite-na-zakona-za-turizma (only in Bulgarian). 5 The amending act is published in the State Gazette No. 37/4.5.2018. 6 Art. 1 of Directive (EU) 2015/2302. 7 In cases such as: Case C-376/13 Commission v Bulgaria (Judgment of 23 April 2015) concerning the granted licences to two multiplex operators in the context of the competition in the markets for electronic communication networks and services, C-488/15 Commission v Bulgaria (Judgment of 5 April 2017) concerning the ambient air quality, Case C-97/17 Commission v Bulgaria (Judgment of 26 April 2018) on the classification as a special protected area of Rila mountain.