EU governments risk clash with EU exec in bid to save tourism season

European Union governments risk a clash with the EU executive arm over their support for travel firms issuing vouchers for cancelled holiday deals without giving customers the option of cash refunds as required by EU law, diplomats said.

Countries including France, Italy, Belgium, Romania and Poland said they had adopted measures, or will do so, to allow the issuance of such vouchers to help shield the hard-hit tourism sector from the effects of the coronavirus epidemic that has brought global travel to a financially devastating halt.

Yet under EU law, of which the European Commission is the guardian, customers must have the right to choose between a cash refund or accepting a voucher for a future package holiday.

The same problem affects airlines, which have been trying to deflect millions of refund claims to avoid additional drains of their cash reserves in a...