reduce the inconvenience experienced by passengers due to the cancellation or long
delay. The scope of application is laid down in Article 2 and covers passenger
services where the port of embarkation is located outside of the Member States if it is
operated by the Union carrier.
28 This Regulation also gives a definition of a cruise,
which means “a transport service by sea or inland waterway, operated exclusively
for the purpose of pleasure or recreation, supplemented by accommodation and other
facilities, exceeding two overnight stays on board”.
Another recent EU legislation pertinent to carriage of passengers by sea is
Directive (EU) 2015/2302 on package travel and linked travel arrangements. Even
though it does not strictly apply to carriage by sea but can nevertheless apply if the
cruise is a part of the package. Thus, this new regime might be in conflict with the
Athens Convention 2002 and the Athens Regulation.
The Directive on EU on Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours
90/314/EEC was the first attempt to regulate the tourist contracts at the EU level. The
Directive has been criticised for not regulating some areas.
29 However, a number of
cases decided by national courts by the Court of Justice demonstrated a number of
problems with regard to interpretation of the Directive. These cases concern different
aspects of the Directive, such as terminology, the composition of a package,
30 the
issues of liability and limitation of liability, whether the non-material compensation
is provided or not.
31 After a number of problems were identified with the application
of the existing Directive, an agreement was reached among all stockholders to revise
the definition of package and the scope of application of the Directive to make it
more up-to-date.
32
As a result, Directive (EU) 2015/2302 was adopted to replace the previous
Package Travel Directive. The Member States had 2 years to implement it in the
national legislation and is applicable from 1 July 2018. It is stressed in the Directive
that the Member States should abstain from introducing into their national law
provisions diverging from those set in the Directive in order to achieve the necessary
level of harmonisation. It extends protection of the 1990 EU Package Travel
Directive to those who book other forms of combined travel, e.g. a self-chosen
combination on a web- of a flight plus hotel or car rental. The main reason is the fact
28 ‘Union carrier’ means a carrier established within the territory of a Member State or offering
transport by passenger services operated to or from the territory of a Member State.
29 EU Commission, Report on the Implementation of Directive 90/314/EEC on Package Travel and
Holiday Tours in the Domestic Legislation of EC Member States, SEC(1999) 1800 final
19 November 1999, see also Schulte-Nölke (2008).
30 Case C-400/00, Club Tour, Viagens e Turismo SA v Alberto Carlos Lobo Gonçalves Garrido and
Club Med Viagens Lda, 30 April 2002.
31 Milner v Carnival Plc [2010] 3 All ER 701, Case C-168/00, Simone Leitner v. TUI Deutschland
Gmbh & Co. KG, 12 March 2002; See also Saggerson (2008) and Grant and Mason (2012).
32 Summary of response to the consultation launched to gather stakeholders’ opinions on the
existing problems and preferred solutions in order to identify preferred policy options as part of
the Commission’s review of the Package Travel Directive, March 2010.
72
O. Bokareva
delay. The scope of application is laid down in Article 2 and covers passenger
services where the port of embarkation is located outside of the Member States if it is
operated by the Union carrier.
28 This Regulation also gives a definition of a cruise,
which means “a transport service by sea or inland waterway, operated exclusively
for the purpose of pleasure or recreation, supplemented by accommodation and other
facilities, exceeding two overnight stays on board”.
Another recent EU legislation pertinent to carriage of passengers by sea is
Directive (EU) 2015/2302 on package travel and linked travel arrangements. Even
though it does not strictly apply to carriage by sea but can nevertheless apply if the
cruise is a part of the package. Thus, this new regime might be in conflict with the
Athens Convention 2002 and the Athens Regulation.
The Directive on EU on Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours
90/314/EEC was the first attempt to regulate the tourist contracts at the EU level. The
Directive has been criticised for not regulating some areas.
29 However, a number of
cases decided by national courts by the Court of Justice demonstrated a number of
problems with regard to interpretation of the Directive. These cases concern different
aspects of the Directive, such as terminology, the composition of a package,
30 the
issues of liability and limitation of liability, whether the non-material compensation
is provided or not.
31 After a number of problems were identified with the application
of the existing Directive, an agreement was reached among all stockholders to revise
the definition of package and the scope of application of the Directive to make it
more up-to-date.
32
As a result, Directive (EU) 2015/2302 was adopted to replace the previous
Package Travel Directive. The Member States had 2 years to implement it in the
national legislation and is applicable from 1 July 2018. It is stressed in the Directive
that the Member States should abstain from introducing into their national law
provisions diverging from those set in the Directive in order to achieve the necessary
level of harmonisation. It extends protection of the 1990 EU Package Travel
Directive to those who book other forms of combined travel, e.g. a self-chosen
combination on a web- of a flight plus hotel or car rental. The main reason is the fact
28 ‘Union carrier’ means a carrier established within the territory of a Member State or offering
transport by passenger services operated to or from the territory of a Member State.
29 EU Commission, Report on the Implementation of Directive 90/314/EEC on Package Travel and
Holiday Tours in the Domestic Legislation of EC Member States, SEC(1999) 1800 final
19 November 1999, see also Schulte-Nölke (2008).
30 Case C-400/00, Club Tour, Viagens e Turismo SA v Alberto Carlos Lobo Gonçalves Garrido and
Club Med Viagens Lda, 30 April 2002.
31 Milner v Carnival Plc [2010] 3 All ER 701, Case C-168/00, Simone Leitner v. TUI Deutschland
Gmbh & Co. KG, 12 March 2002; See also Saggerson (2008) and Grant and Mason (2012).
32 Summary of response to the consultation launched to gather stakeholders’ opinions on the
existing problems and preferred solutions in order to identify preferred policy options as part of
the Commission’s review of the Package Travel Directive, March 2010.
72
O. Bokareva