Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

890 COLLECTIVE COMMENTARY ABOUT THE NEW PACKAGE TRAVEL DIRECTIVE In support of its recommendation that the right of withdrawal for off- -premises sales, should not be implemented, Indecon reported that it had found “ that the implementation of a cooling-off period as per Article 12(5) would likely result in higher costs, albeit for a small portion of the industry. In their judgement (the travel industry’s) the added requirement would not be justified in terms of the balance of costs and benefits. They state they have not seen any evidence of there being an appreciable level of consumer detriment in this area ” 39 . Indecon’s recommendation was accepted by the Irish government, with the option to introduce a right of withdrawal for off-premises contracts not being exercised. 6. CHAPTER IV – PERFORMANCE OF THE PACKAGE 6.1. Article 13 – Responsibility for the Performance of the Package “Unless otherwise provided for by the Directive, Member States shall not maintain or introduce, in their national law, provisions diverging from those laid down in the Directive, including more or less stringent provisions which would ensure a different level of traveller protection. ” 40 . It goes without saying that given the maximum harmonisation nature of the Directive, Member States had very limited flexibility when transposing the Directive into national law. One area which was left exclusively within the remit of Member States, was the determination of the party(ies) to be fixed with responsibility for the performance of the package 41 . The first paragraph of Article 13.1 of the Directive, clearly states that the organiser is responsible for the performance of the travel services included in the package travel contract. However, the second paragraph of Article 13.1 leaves it to the competence of Member States to maintain or introduce in their national law, provisions whereby the retailer is also responsible for the performance of the package. Article 5 of the 1990 Directive had similarly afforded Member States the latitude, whether or not to fix organisers and/or retailers with liability for the proper performance of the obligations arising from the package contract. 39 Page vi the Indecon report (see footnote 15). 40 Article 4 of the Directive. 41 2 nd para of Article 13(1) of the Directive.