Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council. Report on the evaluation of Directive 2008/122/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 January 2009 on the protection of consumers in respect of certain aspects of timeshare, long-term holiday product, resale and exchange contracts

This report provides an assessment of the application of Directive 2008/122/EC (the Timeshare Directive) in Member States and evaluates its effects.

The 2008 Timeshare Directive repealed former Directive 94/47/EC and modernised its provisions in order to deal with the emergence of new products in the travel market. It covers a broader range of holiday-related services characterised by long-term commitments or significant financial risks for consumers, namely:
- timeshare contracts, of more than one year under which a consumer, for consideration, acquires the right to use overnight accommodation for more than one period of occupation;
- contracts for long-term holiday products by which a consumer, for consideration, acquires the right to obtain benefits in respect of accommodation, either in isolation or together with travel or other services (such as membership in ‘discount holiday clubs’, which offer discounts on travel and accommodation in different resorts for a fixed period of time);
- exchange contracts under which a consumer, for consideration, joins a system that allows him to enjoy overnight accommodation or other services in exchange for granting others, on a temporary basis, access to the benefits of the rights arising from his own timeshare contract;
- resale contracts under which a trader, for consideration, assists a timeshare owner to resell his timeshare rights or long-term holiday product.

With reference to such contracts, the Timeshare Directive lays down a number of consumer rights. These include strict rules on pre-contractual and contractual information that the trader has to provide to the consumer, the right for the consumer to withdraw from the contract within 14 calendar days, and a ban on advance payments during the withdrawal period.

Timeshare and other long-term holiday products may often be cross-border in nature, where the marketing and/or conclusion of the contract takes place in a country other than in the consumer’s home country, and where the properties or clubs concerned are located in other countries.

The preparation of this report was also supported by an external study conducted in 2014, including an online survey, followed by interviews with individual stakeholders, and five regional workshops. Another important source of information was the database for complaints used by the European Consumer Centres Network (ECC-Net).

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