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Abta’s Tanzer cool on PTD fears

Abta has sought to play down fears that a new Package Travel Directive could incorporate damaging revisions, with chief executive Mark Tanzer telling Travel Weekly: “We are encouraged by the momentum.”

Association chairman Noel Josephides told the Aito Agents’ domestic conference in early January that a previously touted proposal for a cooling-off period following a holiday purchase “has come back with a vengeance”.

Josephides also warned a proposal to make agents partially liable for packages would “take a lot of fighting” (Travel Weekly, January 16).

The Abta chairman spoke out following meetings of the Internal Market and Transport Committees of the European Parliament at which MEPs are considering revisions to the draft directive, published last July.

Tanzer said: “Of course, it depends what comes out at the end. But nothing raised so far has surprised us.

“There are issues around the liabilities of agents when they sell someone else’s package. Half of Europe has systems similar to the UK’s where the agent has no liability. In others, including France, agents share liability [with tour operators] and want to keep that since it allows them to hang on to cashflow.

“The current directive allows either and we would like that to continue.” He added: “The mood in Europe appears to be not to force it either way.”

The proposal to introduce a cooling-off period came via the transport committee, which sought to include a similar right to withdraw from transactions in the EC Consumer Rights Directive of 2011.

Tanzer said: “We successfully argued the cooling-off period out of the Consumer Rights Directive. It is not practical in a world of dynamic pricing. Companies would have to price in the risk of consumers withdrawing. It would mean increased prices and lead to consumers making phantom bookings as they compare prices. It would create chaos.”

He pointed out the Internal Market Committee would have a greater say on revisions to the PTD, but added: “We foresaw it would come back [in the directive].”

Tanzer insisted there is no great division among national trade associations. He said: “We work closely with other associations through the ECTAA [the European travel agents and tour operators’ association] and there are not many issues we disagree on. Most of the big tourist markets have a strong voice, [but] the sheer volume of passengers in the two big outbound package markets, the UK and Germany, probably carries more weight with the commission.”

The proposed revisions will go to a plenary (full) meeting of the parliamentary committee probably in March. The PTD is also being reviewed by a committee of the Council of Ministers.

European elections in May will interrupt the process, although Tanzer foresees no fundamental break regardless of the results. He said: “There is a broad political consensus. If the UK comes back saying: ‘We want out [of Europe]’, that won’t help our argument. But we don’t see the directive losing momentum.

“The committees will go as far as they can to arrive at a settled view [before May], but they won’t complete the process. It will probably be 2017 before we see any new directive in the UK.”

Tanzer insisted: “We’re well positioned.”

Luke Pollard, who has continued to represent Abta in Brussels despite standing down as head of public affairs last August, will leave in February to campaign full time as a Labour candidate for MP in Plymouth. Abta head of public affairs Stephen D’Alfonso will take over the role in Brussels.

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