by the travellers had mostly already been forwarded to the suppliers and could not be recovered in the short term. Package organisers therefore tried to offer vouchers instead of a cash refund and some member states like France, Italy, Slovakia and the Czech Republic even introduced legislation which made it mandatory for travellers to accept these vouchers. However, in its judgment C-407/21,30 the CJEU clarified that Article 12 para 2 and 3 of the PTD 2015 must be interpreted as meaning that where, following the termination of a package travel contract, the organiser of that package is required, under that provision, to provide the traveller concerned with a full refund of any payments made for the package, such a refund refers solely to the reimbursement of those payments in the form of a sum of money. Article 12 therefore precludes national legislation under which package travel organisers are temporarily released, in the context of the outbreak of a global health crisis preventing the performance of package travel contracts, from their obligation to provide the travellers concerned, not later than 14 days after a contract is terminated, with a full refund of any payments made under the terminated contract. The intention of such legislation to prevent the solvency of those travel organisers from being affected by the expected high number of claims for reimbursement to such an extent that their existence is jeopardised, and thus to preserve the viability of the sector concerned, was not accepted by the Court as a justification for a derogation from the Directive. The Commission Proposal includes a detailed regulation of vouchers in a suggested new Article 12a. According to this provision, the choice may be given to the traveller to accept a voucher of a value corresponding at least to the amount of the traveller’s refund right which can be used for a future package instead of a refund.31 Such an offer must be accompanied by information, in particular on the voluntariness of the acceptance of a voucher, the validity period and the rights of travellers in relation to vouchers.32 Travellers shall lose their right to a refund during the validity period of the voucher only if they accept the voucher instead of a refund explicitly and in writing.33 The vouchers which shall be transferable to another traveller without any additional cost,34 shall have a maximum validity period of 12 months from acceptance, which can be extended by a further 12 months by express written 30 CJEU judgment of 8 Jun. 2023 in case C-407/21 – UFC - Que choisir and CLCV. 31 Article 12a(1) and (3) CP 2023 PTD. 32 Article 12a(2) CP 2023 PTD. 33 Article 12a(4) CP 2023 PTD. 34 Article 12a(8) CP 2023 PTD. 9 THE NEW PASSENGER MOBILITY PACKAGE – HIGHLIGHTS AND LOW POINTS
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