Miroslav Borshosh and Andrey Novakov defended the Bulgarian position on the Package Travel Directive

The tourism minister and the MEP work consistently for concrete measures in EU legislative process

The Bulgarian position on the Package Travel Directive was supported in a vote in the Transport and Tourism Committee (TRAN) in the European Parliament. In the vote on the opinion, and almost by a full majority, the abolition of the controversial text of Article 5a concerning the amount of prepayments was supported.

This is a preliminary position that should also be discussed and voted on in the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, but it is an important step in removing the restriction that pre-payments should not exceed 25% of the total cost of the package when booking, as well as the ban on requiring payment earlier than 28 days before travel.

 "Defending the Bulgarian position is essential for small and medium-sized enterprises in our country – they provide a large part of the tourism services in our country," Minister Borshosh said in his meeting with Mr Novakov after the vote in the TRAN committee today.

The revised text aims to strengthen the rights of travellers and clarify the obligations of package tour operators on issues such as refunds, bankruptcy protection or the use of vouchers.

The directive introduces an information obligation that travel companies must comply with. It also extends the right of travellers to cancel package holidays without paying cancellation fees, lays down rules on the use of vouchers as an alternative to refunds and strengthens the protection of travellers in the event of the insolvency of a tour operator.