Better protection for consumers who book their package holiday online

The European Parliament agreed to modernise legislation on package holidays. MEP Anneleen Van Bossuyt, who negotiated this deal on behalf of the ECR group,  is happy with the agreement: “Europe wants to better protect travellers who book online with these new rules. They should enjoy the same rights as consumers who booked their holiday through a travel agent.”

In practice, the deal relates to websites where you can put together your own package holiday (flights, hotel, rental car, etc.). “Often it was unclear which protection you enjoyed if one of the services in the package went bankrupt,” Van Bossuyt explains. The new rules offer protection against price increases, bankruptcies of one or more service providers and situations of force majeure, such as natural disasters. Europe also establishes clear rules for transferring your package to another traveller, the termination of your contract and the information that traders must provide to travellers.

Avoiding excessive regulation
The negotiations with the European Council, which aimed to get the 28 Member States to toe the same line, were not always easy. “I wanted us to conclude a balanced agreement, which provides sufficient protection for consumers without subjecting these sectors to excessive regulation,” Van Bossuyt concludes.