Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-10-22-Speech-3-047"
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"en.20081022.3.3-047"2
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"− Mr President, let me start by thanking the rapporteur, Mr Manders, and the shadows, in particular Mr Harbour and Mrs McCarthy, for their political commitment and support, and the teams of the IMCO Secretariat and DG SANCO for their very close cooperation. This will lead us, hopefully, to conclude at first reading. I really appreciate your tremendous efforts and I am grateful that we finally reached an agreement. For the same reasons, I would also thank the French presidency.
This proposal would bring about very significant improvements for consumers in the market for timeshare and similar holiday products. There is clearly an urgent need to revise the existing rules on timeshare. Consumers are losing out by purchasing products which are economically similar to timeshare but which do not fall under the definition of the current directive. I am speaking here about products like discount holiday clubs, where consumers often have to pay a substantial amount up front, ranging from EUR 6 000 to EUR 20 000, for membership of a club, which will only give a right to a discount on future holidays. I am also referring to the resale and exchange of timeshare which are currently unregulated.
It is my deep conviction that we need to work on the database site for complaints, and data on complaints show that consumers encounter significantly more problems with these unregulated products, in particular, with the discount holiday clubs, compared to timeshare. There is, therefore, a compelling case for applying similar rules to these products in order to achieve more fairness in the holiday market.
The proposal to be put to the vote today fills in the loopholes in the current legislation by extending the scope of the directive to cover not only timeshare but also long-term holiday products, resale and exchange of timeshare.
With the new rules, traders marketing these products will have to provide a consumer with comprehensive pre-contractual information so that the consumer will be able to make an informed choice.
Thanks to amendments from this House, which I wholeheartedly support, this information will have to be provided on a standardised information sheet, which will make it easier for consumers to assimilate the information. The standardised information sheet will also facilitate the life of traders, in particular, since it will be available in all EU languages. Consumers purchasing these products will also benefit from the right of withdrawal and a ban on advance payments, as is already the case for timeshare.
It will also be clarified that withdrawal can be notified to the trader by letter, email, fax or other similar means. Moreover, consumers purchasing long-term holiday products will be given additional protection. The total payment for membership will no longer be allowed up front but must instead be divided into yearly instalments. The consumer will also have the right to terminate the contract before each yearly payment.
The fully harmonised rules of the directive will be good for consumers. Currently, consumers wishing to purchase a timeshare while on holiday in another country will do so on the basis of that country’s rules, which may not be as protective as the rules of his home country. With the new fully harmonised directive, consumers will know that the same consumer protection rules will apply, regardless of whether they bought their timeshare holiday products in their home countries or while on holiday abroad."@en1
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