COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union concerning the position of the Council on the adoption of a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on package travel and linked travel arrangements, amending Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 and Directive 2011/83/EU and repealing Council Directive 90/314/EEC
Date: 2015-10-05
Institutions: Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers, European Commission
Subjects: carriage of passengers, consumer information, contractual liability, electronic commerce, financial solvency, tourism

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 5.10.2015  COM(2015) 493 final 2013/0246 (COD)   COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT  pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union  concerning the position of the Council on the adoption of a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on package travel and linked travel arrangements, amending Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 and Directive 2011/83/EU and repealing Council Directive 90/314/EEC  
 
 
2013/0246 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union 

concerning the 

position of the Council on the adoption of a Directive of the European Parliament and of 
the Council on package travel and linked travel arrangements, amending Regulation 
(EC) No 2006/2004 and Directive 2011/83/EU and repealing Council Directive 
90/314/EEC 

1. 

BACKGROUND 

Date of transmission of the proposal to the European Parliament and 
to the Council 
COM(2013) 512 final, 2013/0246 (COD) 

9 July 2013 

Date  of  the  opinion  of  the  European  Economic  and  Social 
Committee 
INT/710 - CES5087-2013 

11 December 2013 

Date of the position of the European Parliament, first reading: 

12 March 2014 

Date of transmission of the amended proposal: 

N/A 

Date of adoption of the position of the Council: 

18 September 2015 

2. 

OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSAL FROM THE COMMISSION 

The proposal aims to modernise the rules on package travel currently contained in Directive 
90/314/EEC. The inclusion of customised combinations of travel services, in particular those 
purchased  on-line,  in  the  scope  of  the  new  directive  should  increase  legal  certainty  and 
transparency  for  both  travellers  and  businesses,  reduce  consumer  detriment  associated  with 
such combinations and ensure fairer competition between travel businesses.  

The qualification of combinations of travel services as packages, providing  full protection, as 
opposed  to  assisted  travel  arrangements,  with  limited  protection  in  the  form  of  insolvency 
protection, or single travel services depends on the way in which the booking of the relevant 
services is  presented to the traveller. For instance, a single contract on all services, a single 
booking  process  or  an  inclusive  or  total  price  will  lead  to  the  creation  of  a  package.  At  the 
same  time,  travellers  should  be  given  clear  information  on  the  nature  of  the  travel  product 
they are being offered and the kind of protection they can expect. 

Moreover,  the  proposal  aims  to  facilitate  cross-border  transactions  through  increased 
harmonisation and an explicit mutual recognition mechanism for insolvency protection. It also 

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intends to remove unnecessary compliance costs for businesses related to provisions outdated 
in the digital age (e.g. those related to information requirements in the form of brochures).  

Another objective is to close legal gaps in consumer protection, e.g. through additional rights 
to terminate a contract and more rigid rules for price increases. 

It is estimated that the new directive will double the share of protected trips from 23% to 46% 
in the EU travel market. By increasing the protection of consumers purchasing online travel 
combinations,  the  proposal  aims  to  increase  consumer  confidence  and  could  indirectly 
contribute to the Commission's aim to boost the Digital Single Market. 

3. 

COMMENTS ON THE POSITION OF THE COUNCIL 

The  position  of  the  Council  reflects  the  political  agreement  reached  between  the  European 
Parliament and the Council in informal trilogues on 5 May  2015, subsequently endorsed by 
the Competitiveness Council on 28 May 2015.  

The  Commission  supports  this  agreement  since  it  is  in  keeping  with  the  objectives  of  the 
Commission proposal.  

The  agreement  maintains  the  differentiated  approach  regarding  packages  and  linked  travel 
arrangements (called 'assisted travel arrangement' in  the Commission proposal). It preserves 
the substance of the definition of packages and the associated protection level, while making 
certain adjustments regarding the definition of linked travel arrangements and the insolvency 
protection  granted  to  travellers  purchasing  such  arrangments.  At  the  same  time,  it  further 
strengthens the transparency for travellers  by adding compulsory information forms. 

According  to  the  Council  position,  it  is  clear  that  the  new  directive  will  be  based  on  full 
harmonisation,  with  a  few  limited  exceptions  where,  because  of  different  legal  traditions  or 
approaches, Member States will be allowed to maintain different solutions. This concerns in 
particular the possibility to make retailers liable for the performance of a package in addition 
to  organisers  or  to  provide  for  a  right  of  withdrawal  for  off-premises  contracts,  but  not  for 
online or other distance contracts. 

Certain clarifications of the rules on contractual liability and remedies for lack of conformity 
in  the  performance  of  the  contract  will  increase  consumer  protection,  whereas  the  detailed 
criteria  for  insolvency  protection  regimes  should  ensure  that  the  actual  protection  granted 
under  the  rules  of  the  Member  States  will  become  more  comparable,  thereby  strengthening 
the basis for mutual recognition.  

The fact that the agreed text obliges the Commission to present a report on online-bookings 
made at different points of sale and in particular on point (b) (v) of point 2 of Article 3 of the 
draft directive already three years after its entry into force, will be challenging to fulfil  due to 
the  short  period  the  directive  will  have  been  applicable  at  that  point.  However,  the 
Commission  ackowledges  that  this  solution  was  necessary  for  Council  and  Parliament  to 
come to an agreement and is, therefore, acceptable. 

4. 

CONCLUSION 

The Commission supports the results of the inter-institutional negotiations and can therefore 
accept the Council's position at first reading. 

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