The Rapporteur presented the key elements of his draft report. He is in favour of full harmonisation of national laws with limited exceptions to avoid lowering the level of consumer protection in certain Member States. Furthermore, he believes it is essential to clarify the scope and the definitions of the Directive. More particularly, the Rapporteur suggested not to consider as a package those combinations of services where the additional (e.g. cultural) service is to be considered only 'ancillary' to a transport service; to replace the notion of 'assisted travel arrangements' with 'linked travel arrangements'; and to define business travel - excluded from the scope of the Directive - as those contracts concluded under the umbrella of a framework contract between a travel agent and businesses. Moreover, he mentioned the need for targeted pre-contractual information, the introduction of a limited right of withdrawal, the capping of potential price fluctuations and the provision of comprehensive bankruptcy protection and liability, irrespective of fault.
The Shadow Rapporteurs were generally supportive of the draft report, however they were critical as regards the precise level of harmonisation to be achieved and expressed concern with regard to the level of legal clarity of the Rapporteur's proposals for redefining the scope of the Directive. That concern was shared by the Commission regarding the proposed exclusion of so-called 'ancillary services' from the scope of the Directive. As regards the level of harmonisation, the Commission declared it is aiming for a set of rules as uniform as possible across the Union, to avoid a lowering of consumer protection.
Source : © European Union, 2013 - EP