What changed between the plenary report and the adopted text

Recital 5 a (new): (5a) In the context of online bookings, the term ‘invites’ should be understood as any action by the trader that actively encourages or prompts the traveller to enter into an additional contract for a different type of travel service. Such actions may include, but are not limited to, presenting the traveller with targeted offers during the booking process, or providing hyperlinks or prompts to book further services.

Recital 6: (6) The principle underlying the definition of ‘package’ should remain that there is a close link between different travel services booked for the purpose of the same trip or holiday. Bookings of different types of travel services for the same trip or holiday at one point of sale where the travel services have been selected before the traveller concludes a first contract should be considered as packages in the same way as travel services booked at one point of sale within a short period of time. In both cases, there is a close link between the bookings of travel services. Therefore, the definition of ‘package’, should cover both situations.

Recital 7: (7) In the context of bookings made within a short period of time at one point of sale, it is appropriate to replace the rather vague criterion of ‘a single visit or contact’. Therefore, bookings of different types of travel services for the same trip or holiday where, before the traveller agrees to pay for a first travel service, a trader actively invites a traveller to book one or more additional services for the same trip or holiday within 24 hours of agreeing to pay for the first service, should be considered as packages. For the purpose of this Directive, a trader should be considered to be actively inviting a traveller to book a service when it optimises the offer for sale in question or promotes such offer.

Recital 8: (8) The definition of package formed through linked online booking processes in Article 3(2)(b)(v) of Directive (EU) 2015/2302, which required that the traveller’s name, payment details and email address are all transmitted from one trader to another trader, has proved to be too narrow. Therefore, it is appropriate to consider as a 'package' bookings of different types of travel services for the same trip or holiday where the trader that is party to a first contract transfers the traveller's personal data to a trader that is party to a second or further contract. Such a transfer of personal data should enable the traders involved to establish that the same traveller is a party to the relevant contracts and could include, for example, the traveller’s name, payment details, email address or telephone number. The transfer of personal data indicates a close link between the bookings/contracts.

Recital 9: deleted

Recital 10: (10) Regarding packages where, for example, accommodation is combined with other tourist services, but which do not contain any carriage of passengers, the general criterion of ‘a significant proportion’ of the value of the combination, applying to tourist services as referred to in Article 3(1)(d), should be replaced with the more specific criterion of ‘at least 25%’ in order to increase legal certainty. It should be noted that different on-site activities that are provided as an intrinsic part of or typically associated with accommodation, regardless of their value, should not result in the creation of a package if these services are combined only with accommodation.

Recital 12: (12) There are certain risks which are inherent in the business practice of requiring advance payments, in particular, in situations where organisers are obliged to refund significant amounts to travellers for cancelled trips within a short period of time. Therefore, it should be provided that downpayments, that is to say payments asked of travellers at the time of booking or shortly afterwards, should be set at an appropriate level. Downpayments may be subject to limitations based on national jurisdiction.

Recital 13: deleted

Recital 14: deleted

Recital 16: (16) In certain situations voluntary vouchers to travellers can be a useful alternative to refunds. Vouchers can give more flexibility to organisers in particular if they are confronted with the obligation to make many refunds within a short period of time. At the same time, vouchers can be acceptable for travellers who do not need an instant refund, as long as there are specific legal guarantees. Therefore, clear rules on vouchers should be laid down which provide such guarantees. Those guarantees should include transparency on the voluntary nature and on the key characteristics of vouchers, as well as on travellers’ rights in relation to vouchers, for example, the fact that they are protected against the organiser’s insolvency and that travellers are entitled to an automatic refund where a voucher is not redeemed during its period of validity. It should be possible for the voucher to be used for any services proposed by the organiser. Organisers should be able to make vouchers more attractive, for example, by increasing their value as compared to the traveller’s refund right. In such cases, insolvency protection should be limited to the amount of the traveller's refund rights.

Recital 16 a (new): (16a) If a package has been combined by an organiser and is made up of services by two, or more, different travel service providers, the voucher should apply to the organiser where the package was booked and not be split up among different travel service providers that the organiser is cooperating with.

Recital 18: (18) It should be clarified that the termination of a contract is possible if it can be reasonably expected that its performance will be significantly and objectively affected by unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances, which requires a case-by-case assessment. The assessment as to whether unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances will have significant and objective effects on the performance of the package should be based on a prediction, at the moment of the termination of the contract, of the likelihood that the unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances will have significant and objective effects on the performance of the package. Where a traveller terminates the contract, such an assessment should be made from the perspective of an average traveller who is reasonably well-informed and reasonably observant and circumspect, based on information available at the date of termination of the package travel contract in question. The effects of unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances occurring at the place of departure, destination, including its immediate vicinity, or affecting the journey to or from the destination, including the various places connected with the start and return of the trip in question, should be taken into account where they affect the performance of travel services included in the relevant package travel contract. Circumstances affecting only the journey to the destination or the return journey should not be taken into account if that journey is …

Recital 19: (19) During the Covid-19 pandemic, different interpretations emerged regarding cancellation rights due to ‘unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances’ including in relation to the relevance of travel warnings. It is, therefore, appropriate to specify that official travel warnings for the travel destination issued by the authorities of the Member State of the traveller’s residence or departure or the country of destination, are important elements when assessing whether the termination of a contract is justified. Furthermore, the absence of official travel warnings should not prevent the existence of those circumstances and their effects on the performance of the package from being established. Unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances can cover not only circumstances which affect the performance of a package but also circumstances which, without preventing such performance, mean that the package cannot be performed without exposing the travellers concerned to risks to their health and safety. The relevance of such circumstances and their effects should be assessed objectively, while taking into account, where appropriate, the degree to which the travellers concerned are exposed to risk. The fact that, due to unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances, travellers will be subject to serious restrictions at the travel destination or at their place of departure, including quarantine requirements for a significant period, should also be assessed when considering whether a termi…

Recital 20: (20) It should also be clarified that the 14-day refund period, which is triggered by the termination of the contract, applies regardless of whether the traveller specifically asks for a refund. Furthermore, it should be specified that the organiser is to reimburse all payments made by or on behalf of the traveller in respect of the package.

Recital 22: (22) In order to ensure effectiveness of insolvency protection for travellers at all times, it should be provided that the security is sufficient to cover costs for refunds and repatriations in cases where an insolvency occurs at a time when an organiser holds the highest amounts of payments. Any increases of those amounts due to a higher anticipated volume of packages sold in a given period should be taken into account. It should be clarified that Member States should supervise the insolvency protection of organisers and monitor the market for the provision of insolvency protection. It should be clarified that such measures can be co-financed by the Member States only in exceptional circumstances and reiterated that those provisions are without prejudice to the Union provisions on State aid insofar as such measures involve State aid.

Recital 25: (25) It is important that travellers are properly informed on their rights, are able to understand the information provided to them and have access to that information when they need it. Therefore, certain changes should be made regarding pre-contractual information requirements, the content of a package travel contract and the standard information forms set out in Annexes I and II to Directive (EU) 2015/2302. For example, the standard information forms in Annex I should specify the trader responsible for refunds for cancelled packages. The right to terminate a package travel contract without a fee due to unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances should be presented next to the possibility to cancel a package subject to a cancellation fee. In addition, organisers should be obliged to add the standard information form to the contract so that it is available to travellers after the conclusion of the contract, along with contact details of the relevant traders. To ensure that travellers are properly informed about their rights, organisers should provide assistance accessible to travellers, especially vulnerable travellers, through a one-stop shop. Digital communication channels should be recognised as a key tool for providing up-to-date and personalised information about passenger rights at all times. This information should be provided automatically and proactively by organisers, particularly in the case of an event likely to have an impact on the package, in order to facilit…

Recital 25 a (new): (25a) Compliance with this Directive should be enforceable by means of the imposition of penalties and other enforcement measures. Member States should take all necessary measures to ensure that the provisions of this Directive are implemented, including by laying down effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties applicable to infringements of national provisions adopted pursuant to this Directive. Member States should also ensure respect for the ne bis in idem principle. When assessing the amount of fines, Member States should, in each individual case, take into account all relevant circumstances of the specific situation, with due regard in particular to the nature, gravity, scale and duration of the infringement and of its consequences and to the size of the provider, in particular if the provider is an SME, including start-ups.

Directive (EU) 2015/2302

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 1, Article 1: The purpose of this Directive is to contribute to the proper functioning of the internal market and to the achievement of a high and as uniform as possible level of consumer protection by approximating and simplifying certain aspects of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States in respect of contracts between travellers and traders relating to package travel and certain aspects of contracts between organisers of packages and travel service providers, as well as of the specific information requirements in some cases not leading to the creation of a package.

Directive (EU) 2015/2302

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 2, Article 2 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1: This Directive applies to packages offered for sale or sold by traders to travellers.

Directive (EU) 2015/2302

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 2 a (new), Article 2 – paragraph 2 – point a: (2a) in Article 2(2), point (a) is replaced by the following: / ‘(a) packages covering a period of less than 24 hours unless overnight accommodation is included;’

Directive (EU) 2015/2302

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 2 b (new), Article 2 – paragraph 2 – point b: (2b) in Article 2(2), point (b) is replaced by the following: / ‘(b) packages offered occasionally and on a ‘not-for-profit’ basis and only to a limited group of travellers;’

Directive (EU) 2015/2302

Article 1 – paragraph 2 – point 2 c (new), Article 2 – paragraph 2 – point c: (2c) in Article 2(2), point (c) is replaced by the following: / ‘(c) packages purchased for the arrangement of business travel between a trader and another natural or legal person who is acting for purposes relating to his trade, business, craft or profession.’

Directive (EU) 2015/2302

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 3 – point a, Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 2 – point b – point i: (i) those services are purchased from a single point of sale and have been selected before the traveller agrees to pay, or / (deleted) / (deleted) / (deleted)

Directive (EU) 2015/2302

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 3 – point a, Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 2 – point b – point i a (new): (ia) if, before the traveller agrees to pay for a first travel service, the trader actively invites the traveller to book one or more additional types of travel services at the same point of sale within 24 hours of agreeing to pay for the first service, or

Directive (EU) 2015/2302

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 3 – point a, Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 2 – point b – point ii: (ii) offered, sold or paid at an inclusive or total price, regardless of any separate billing, or

Directive (EU) 2015/2302