On 9 June 2021, the European Commission decided to refer Slovakia to the Court of Justice as its national provisions on reimbursement for package holidays cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic are not in conformity with the Directive (EU) 2015/2302 on package travel and linked travel arrangements (Package Travel Directive).

Under the Package Travel Directive, travellers have the right to be refunded or reimbursed without undue delay and in any event not later than 14 days after the package travel contract is terminated because of unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances. However, due to Covid-19, many travel arrangements had to be cancelled and the Member States adopted national rules allowing organisers of package travel to deviate from these reimbursement rules.

Under Slovak legislation, travellers whose package holiday is cancelled due to Covid-19 have to either accept an amended package travel contract or a substitute package offered by the organiser of the package. Alternatively, the travellers are entitled to a refund only after 31 August 2021. These rules breach Union law as, under the Package Travel Directive, travellers are entitled to a refund within 14 days if their package travel contract is terminated because of unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances.

The Commission launched the infringement procedure against Slovakia in July 2020 and sent a reasoned opinion in October 2020. Despite it initially announced an amendment to its legislation which should have entered into force in May, at the end of March 2021, the Slovak authority informed the Commission that the draft amendment had not been adopted. Therefore, the Commission decided to refer Slovakia to the Court of Justice.

Esmeralda Dedej