The Package Travel Act and the Covid19 pandemic by Jonas Thyberg

in advance and that the services was supplied in a state other than that in which the consumer was resident. 2.1 The Swedish Act on Package Travel According to the PTA the organizer has far-reaching responsibilities in relation to the traveler. In short; it is the responsibility of the organizer to secure that the traveler receives exactly the travel services purchased in accordance with the package travel contract. Any deviation from or alteration to the contract gives rise to certain rights for the traveler, i.e. right to price reduction and/or damages or a right to terminate the contract. The organiser is responsible for all services that is a part of the package, regardless of if the service is provided by the organizer himself or a service provider. The act distinguishes between changes pre departure and changes or shortcomings after the start of the package. Below, some of the provisions of the PTA that has been put into focus by the pandemic will be analyzed. 2.2 Cancellation by the traveler due to unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances According to Article 3(12) of the PTD, ”unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances” (UEC) means a situation beyond the control of the party who invokes such a situation and the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. According to the recitals (recital 31), signifcant risks to human health such as the outbreak of a serious disease at the travel destination is a situation which may be classifed as an UEC. The Swedish act does not include a defnition of UEC, since the legislator did not fnd this necessary . 7 According to Chapter 3 Section 1 of the PTA, the traveler has the right to terminate the package travel contract before the start of the package. If the traveler terminates the contract, the organizer has the right to a reasonable cancellation fee, provided this is specifed in the package travel contract. The organiser is however not entitled to a cancellation fee if the package is signifcantly afected by unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances at the destination or its immediate vicinity or the transport of the traveler to the destination. This section implements Articles 12.1 and 12.2 of the PTD. During the spread of Covid19 in the spring of 2020, countries imposed diferent restrictions to reduce the further spread of the virus. Restrictions such as lock down, quarantine, closed borders, curfews etc. was decided by the national authorities, Prop. 2017/18:225, page 45-46 7

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