Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

The case of France: the “personalised” transposition of the Directive 2015/2302 Emmanuelle Llop Attorney at Law Introduction; The strict liability; Organiser and retailer are both strictly liable; Strict liability also applies to “isolated” tourist services; Limitation and exemption of liability; The new notion of unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances. INTRODUCTION On 1 July 2018, France incorporated into its positive law the terms of the new Directive on Package travel (PTD) and linked travel arrangements (LTA) of 25 November 2015 (Directive 2015/2302 JOUE 11.12.2015), by amending its Tourism Code (Articles L. 211-1 and R. 211-1 et seq.). This new Directive was an opportunity for the professional trade union bodies to try to revisit certain French particularities absent from the 1990 PTD or to strengthen others in order to perpetuate the originality of the French market regarding the sale of tourist services. Government bodies, on the other hand, have only had in their sights the protection of the consumer and thus the continuity of certain rights acquired in 1992, the date marking the French law transposition of the 1990 Directive. What are the French specificities, some of which are currently the subject of various actions in terms of the Directive’s over transposition? THE STRICT LIABILITY Following the law (abrogated) of 23 July 1992, French travel agencies have become subjected to the principle of no-fault liability, i.e. strict liability.