Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

358 COLLECTIVE COMMENTARY ABOUT THE NEW PACKAGE TRAVEL DIRECTIVE 2. Germany Germany has implemented Article 14 in sec. 651m, sec. 651n and sec. 651p of its Civil Code 48 . The German legislator decided neither to follow the exact wording nor to follow the structure of the Directive. Sec. 651m, implementing Article 14 (1) deals with price reduction and in addition to the text of the Directive provides some principles on how the reduction shall be calculated, namely according to the relation of the value of the package affected by the lack of conformity to the value of a properly performed package. Sec. 651n is implementing Article 14 (2) and (3) on compensation and the potential defences of the organiser. Like the Austrian Package Travel Act, sec. 651n (2) explicitly mentions loss of holiday enjoyment as to be covered by the compensation in case of severe negative impact of the lack of conformity. As regards the issue whether a lack of conformity attributable to a third party unconnected to the provision of the travel services has to be unforeseeable and unavoidable in order to release the organiser or only “unforeseeable or unavoidable”, the German legislator has decided to regard the German version of the Directive as an incorrect translation and therefore to adopt the wording of the other language versions. Article 14 (4) is implemented in sec. 651p of the German Civil Code. Like Austria, Germany did not make use of the option for a limitation of the organiser’s liability according to international conventions which are not binding for the Union. 3. Malta Malta has implemented the Directive in its Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations, 2018 49 , Regulation 13 of which corresponds with Article 14 of the Directive. The wording of the Regulation closely follows that of Article 14. Malta made use of the option to limit the organiser’s liability according to international conventions which are not binding for the Union but of which Malta is a party to. It also made use of the option to extend liability under the directive to retailers 50 . The related provision can be found in Regulation 12 (1). 48 Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (BGB). 49 Law No. 94 of 2018, Malta Travel and Tourism Services Act, Cap. 409. 50 Article 13 (1).