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 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 linked travel arrangements.
1.This Directive applies to packages offered for sale or sold by traders to travellers and to linked travel arrangements facilitated by traders for travellers.
2.This Directive does not apply to:
(a)packages and linked travel arrangements covering a period of less than 24 hours unless overnight accommodation is included;
(b)packages offered, and linked travel arrangements facilitated, occasionally and on a not-for-profit basis and only to a limited group of travellers;
(c)packages and linked travel arrangements purchased on the basis of a general agreement 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.
3.This Directive does not affect national general contract law such as the rules on the validity, formation or effect of a contract, insofar as general contract law aspects are not regulated in this Directive.
For the purposes of this Directive, the following definitions apply:
‘travel service’ means:
carriage of passengers;
accommodation which is not intrinsically part of carriage of passengers and is not for residential purposes;
rental of cars, other motor vehicles within the meaning of Article 3(11) of Directive 2007/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council(1), or motorcycles requiring a Category A driving licence in accordance with point (c) of Article 4(3) of Directive 2006/126/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council(2);
any other tourist service not intrinsically part of a travel service within the meaning of points (a), (b) or (c);
‘package’ means a combination of at least two different types of travel services for the purpose of the same trip or holiday, if:
those services are combined by one trader, including at the request of or in accordance with the selection of the traveller, before a single contract on all services is concluded; or
irrespective of whether separate contracts are concluded with individual travel service providers, those services are:
purchased from a single point of sale and those services have been selected before the traveller agrees to pay,
offered, sold or charged at an inclusive or total price,
advertised or sold under the term ‘package’ or under a similar term,
combined after the conclusion of a contract by which a trader entitles the traveller to choose among a selection of different types of travel services, or
purchased from separate traders through linked online booking processes where the traveller's name, payment details and e-mail address are transmitted from the trader with whom the first contract is concluded to another trader or traders and a contract with the latter trader or traders is concluded at the latest 24 hours after the confirmation of the booking of the first travel service.
A combination of travel services where not more than one type of travel service as referred to in point (a), (b) or (c) of point 1 is combined with one or more tourist services as referred to in point (d) of point 1 is not a package if the latter services:
do not account for a significant proportion of the value of the combination and are not advertised as and do not otherwise represent an essential feature of the combination; or
are selected and purchased only after the performance of a travel service as referred to in point (a), (b) or (c) of point 1 has started;
‘package travel contract’ means a contract on the package as a whole or, if the package is provided under separate contracts, all contracts covering travel services included in the package;
‘start of the package’ means the beginning of the performance of travel services included in the package;
‘linked travel arrangement’ means at least two different types of travel services purchased for the purpose of the same trip or holiday, not constituting a package, resulting in the conclusion of separate contracts with the individual travel service providers, if a trader facilitates:
on the occasion of a single visit or contact with his point of sale, the separate selection and separate payment of each travel service by travellers; or
in a targeted manner, the procurement of at least one additional travel service from another trader where a contract with such other trader is concluded at the latest 24 hours after the confirmation of the booking of the first travel service.
Where not more than one type of travel service as referred to in point (a), (b) or (c) of point 1 and one or more tourist services as referred to in point (d) of point 1 are purchased, they do not constitute a linked travel arrangement if the latter services do not account for a significant proportion of the combined value of the services and are not advertised as, and do not otherwise represent, an essential feature of the trip or holiday.
‘traveller’ means any person who is seeking to conclude a contract, or is entitled to travel on the basis of a contract concluded, within the scope of this Directive;
‘trader’ means any natural person or any legal person, irrespective of whether privately or publicly owned, who is acting, including through any other person acting in his name or on his behalf, for purposes relating to his trade, business, craft or profession in relation to contracts covered by this Directive, whether acting in the capacity of organiser, retailer, trader facilitating a linked travel arrangement or as a travel service provider;
‘organiser’ means a trader who combines and sells or offers for sale packages, either directly or through another trader or together with another trader, or the trader who transmits the traveller's data to another trader in accordance with point (b)(v) of point 2;
‘retailer’ means a trader other than the organiser who sells or offers for sale packages combined by an organiser;
‘establishment’ means establishment as defined in point 5 of Article 4 of Directive 2006/123/EC;
‘durable medium’ means any instrument which enables the traveller or the trader to store information addressed personally to him in a way accessible for future reference for a period of time adequate for the purposes of the information and which allows the unchanged reproduction of the information stored;
‘unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances’ means a situation beyond the control of the party who invokes such a situation and the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken;
‘lack of conformity’ means a failure to perform or improper performance of the travel services included in a package;
‘minor’ means a person below the age of 18 years;
‘point of sale’ means any retail premises, whether movable or immovable, or a retail website or similar online sales facility, including where retail websites or online sales facilities are presented to travellers as a single facility, including a telephone service;
‘repatriation’ means the traveller's return to the place of departure or to another place the contracting parties agree upon.
Unless otherwise provided for in this Directive, Member States shall not maintain or introduce, in their national law, provisions diverging from those laid down in this Directive, including more or less stringent provisions which would ensure a different level of traveller protection.
Directive 2007/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 September 2007 establishing a framework for the approval of motor vehicles and their trailers, and of systems, components and separate technical units intended for such vehicles (Framework Directive) (OJ L 263, 9.10.2007, p. 1).
Directive 2006/126/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 on driving licences (OJ L 403, 30.12.2006, p. 18).