[ad_1]
When urging Lusa to comment on the process opened by the community executive last July, Luís Araújo only says that, “in the positions that are taken, there must be balance in relation to what the effect may be in the future.”
“When making decisions, you have to weigh the decisions you make very well, taking into account what we have in hand,” he adds, unnecessarily.
At the end of August, the Government approved a diploma that readjusted the exceptional legal regime created in April due to the pandemic and that allowed the issuance of vouchers of equal value to travel or reschedule them.
The diploma determined that consumers have the right to be reimbursed within 14 days in the event of cancellation of a trip organized by a travel agency, even if this is due to the covid-19 pandemic.
“We are still seeing [como serão feitos os reembolsos em dinheiro]”Luís Araújo says to Lusa, insisting that” the decision “of the Portuguese Government was very well adopted in relation to the issue of vouchers.
The European Commission has a different view, which in early July decided to initiate infringement proceedings against Portugal for violation of EU laws on passenger rights, namely the issuance of vouchers instead of refunds, in the context of the 19 pandemic.
At that time, Brussels gave the country two months to respond to the community executive and “take the necessary measures to fill the gaps identified”, otherwise, “the Commission could decide to send reasoned opinions”, in what is the second and last stage. infringement procedure before possible appeal to the Court of Justice of the European Communities.
This was what the Government did, at the end of August, when readjusting the “legal regime for combined trips, since the solution that allowed the issuance of a voucher of equal value to the payment made by the traveler or by rescheduling in case of cancellation if it seemed exceptional ”, according to the statement of the Council of Ministers of the time.
The changes went into effect the day after the diploma was published, but there is nothing to stop them from continuing to issue vouchers or promoting travel rescheduling, if the parties agree that this is the most advantageous solution.
Community rules dictate that the consumer must make this decision.
This is the decree-law adopted last April with measures related to the tourism sector, in the field of the pandemic, which provided for the issuance of ‘vouchers’ in case of cancellation of trips organized by tourism agencies and reservations in companies tourist and local accommodation establishments.
Luís Araújo has been President of Tourism of Portugal since 2016 and, this week, he also assumed the presidency of the European Travel Commission, the European entity for the promotion of the sector, a position that he will accumulate over the next four years.
