Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

718 COLLECTIVE COMMENTARY ABOUT THE NEW PACKAGE TRAVEL DIRECTIVE the offered substitute package and its price 85 . In Croatian law, it is considered that a package travel contract is terminated when the traveller’s fails to inform the organiser, within a reasonable time limit, of his decision 86 . Such a provision is in accordance with Croatian general contract law prescribing that silence is not considered as the acceptance of an offer to enter into a contract 87 . The protection offered to a traveller when there is a price increase, or a change of other contractual provisions, is significantly enhanced under the new provisions of a package travel contract in comparison with the former provisions on the protection of travellers as laid down in the Obligations Act. Under former provisions of package travel contracts, travellers had the right to rescind the contract if an increase exceeded 10% 88 . Indeed, in the Obligations Act, the time limit within which the traveller was obliged to inform the organiser whether he or she accepted the changes of other contract terms was more precise than in the TSA. The Obligations Act envisaged a time limit of two days from the receipt of the proposal for informing the organiser of the acceptance. A failure to inform within the specified time limit resulted in the rescission of the contract 89 . The provision of the new TSA, pursuant to which a traveller must be given a “reasonable period” for sending information to the organiser about the proposal for a change of the contract, and the fact that there is no express provision on when this period starts running may, in practice, lead to disputes between travellers and organisers. Namely, the new TSA leaves it to the organiser, when sending information about the change, to specify the length of the “reasonable period” within which the traveller is obliged to confirm the acceptance of the changes. However, there are no criteria for the determination of the length of the “reasonable period” or what is its minimum. The legal position of the traveller in case of any changes made in a package travel contract would be much better defined if it was determined by law within which period the traveller is obliged to inform the organiser about the acceptance of the amended provisions. Indeed, it would be useful to determine in advance the time limit for the traveller to inform the organiser on the changes in the travel package contract. In addition, the traveller must be informed in advance about the consequences of failing to observe the specified time limit. 85 Art. 36, para. 2 TSA. 86 Art. 36, para. 6 TSA. 87 Art. 265, para.1 OA. 88 Former Art. 900, para. 3 OA. 89 Former Art. 903 paras 4, 5 OA.