CONSUMER PROTECTION : PACKAGE HOLIDAYS: COMMISSION WANTS ORDER ONLINE.

Yesterday's "package holiday" has given way to the combined possibilities that the internet currently offers - which is why, on 9 July, the European Commission proposed modernising legislation on all-inclusive holidays. The legislation is certainly outdated as it dates back all the way to 1990.

Some 54% of holiday-makers do without, but 23% (ie 120 million people) still find and book holiday packages offered in travel agencies' brochures. Which means that 23% of Europeans are protected by the current directive. The third category of European holiday makers - another 23% slice - is the one that is concerned by legal problems. People in this category make their own trip up on the internet, where multiple operators can operate. These new "personalised holiday" formulas are created by one or several commercially...