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 six zero to eur twenty zero 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
