Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-10-22-Speech-3-046"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20081022.3.3-046"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
". −
Mr President, I should, as ever, like to start by thanking everyone involved: Commissioner Kuneva, the shadow rapporteurs, and also the three Presidents of the Council, for we started this report in 2007, under the Portuguese Presidency. This was followed by the Slovenian Presidency and, finally, we have managed to strike a compromise with the help of the French Presidency. It is unfortunate that State Secretary Luc Chatel is unable to attend, because it is, of course, wonderful to be able to observe that we have a compromise, and at first reading no less.
What is before us is, to my mind, a good result, one of which we here as Parliament, together with the Commission and Council, can be proud.
In 1994, a Timeshare Directive was approved which has given the sector a thorough overhaul. The big problem was that Member States implemented the directive differently. It was a patchwork of legislation and compliance which was, wittingly or unwittingly, different in the various locations and which sowed a seed of doubt in the minds of consumers when they considered buying timeshare property across the border.
We are now thrashing out a new directive. We have extended the scope somewhat, because in the 1994 directive, a number of products were insufficiently defined, if at all, such as long-term holidays or product exchange, to name but a few. To my mind, we have managed to make a distinct improvement in this respect, and both industry and consumers are thrilled with the outcome. I hope that we as politicians are too. We worked with our fellow MEPs in the various groups very closely, and we have arrived at an attractive result.
There is, for example, a prohibition on advance payments, because this proved to be a frustration to many consumers. Once you had paid up, it was impossible to get back this EUR 1 000 or EUR 1 500 which you had paid in front.
The cooling-off period of fourteen days is, to my mind, also a very important matter.
Subsequently, and I am personally very pleased with this, there will be a checklist, a standard information form which sets out your purchase in detail and also states that you have the opportunity to dissolve the contract within fourteen days with a no-quibble guarantee.
There are also voluntary codes of conduct for the sector, as well as the hallmark, a recognition or quality mark, and also the fact that the Commission has promised to monitor this. This is music to my ears, for indeed, it is to be welcomed, in my view, that the Commission has promised to monitor these codes of conduct. I am particularly pleased with the fact that the Commission promised to monitor compliance with the regulation in the Member States in the trialogue.
It will, in some cases, become easier for the consumer to appear before a national court. It saddens me that the jurisdiction, the establishment of a competent court, is not explicitly mentioned in this directive. This is regrettable to me, but in a compromise, you sometimes need to add water to the wine. It is also regrettable, for example, that, if crucial information is not provided, a contract will still exist one year on.
This is all possible in a compromise. By and large, enormous progress has been made in relation to both the consumer and the sector, particularly in terms of maximum harmonisation. This will, in any event, make it easier in a number of cases to appear before a court in one’s own Member State. For the sector, it will become much easier to trade across the border."@en1
|
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples