Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

ARTICLE 24 | AFONSO RIBEIRO CAFÉ 499 that they must set a guarantee fund, insurance or other kind of guarantee. This decision will also be taken by the Autonomous Communities. In Germany the regime of the package travel is ruled on the BGB and the transposition was done as an amendment to the code. The violations of the provisions of the Directive are sanctioned with the general administrative penalties of German civil law. According to paragraph 651K and R, the travel organiser must guarantee that the traveller is reimbursed for the price of the travel package paid, to the extent that travel services fail to materialise due to insolvency or the commencement of insolvency proceedings relating to the assets of the travel organiser, and necessary expenses incurred by the traveller for return travel due to insolvency or the commencement of insolvency proceedings relating to the assets of the travel organiser. These duties are mandatory for the travel organiser. German law demands from the travel organiser an insurance policy or promise of payment issued by a bank corporation in order to assure his liability. The insurer or the bank may limit its liability to 110 million euros per year. If the amounts to be reimbursed in one single year exceeds the maximum stated above, then the individual reimbursement claims will be reduced pro rata to the maximum granted. Bulgarian law 25 is a very interesting case, because it deals with all the types of enforcement mentioned above. In its article 171 and following, it provides a very complete regulation about monitorisation of its provisions’ fulfilment, stating that the Minister for Tourism, Consumer Protection Commission, provincial governors and the mayors of municipalities are the entities invested with powers to monitor the fulfilment of the provisions applied. Bulgarian law sets a combined system between administrative and criminal sanctions. Soon after illegal behaviour is detected, the administration notifies the trader to cease the breach of law within a fixed period, after which an inspection will be 25 Tourism Act, published in the State Gazette (SG) Nos 30 of 26 March 2013, in force as from 26 March 2013; amended in SG No 68 of 2 August 2013, in force as from 2 August 2013; supplemented in SG No 109 of 20 December 2013; amended in SG Nos 40 of 13 May 2014 and 9 of 3 February 2015, in force as from 3 February 2015; supplemented in SG No 14 of 20 February 2015; amended in SG Nos 79 of 13 October 2015, in force as from 1 August 2016; 20 of 15 March 2016, in force as from 15 March 2016; 43 of 7 June 2016; 59 of 29 July 2016, in force as from 1 August 2016; 75 of 27 September 2016; 58 of 18 July 2017, in force as from 18 July 2017; 85 of 24 October 2017; 96 of 1 December 2017, in force as from 1 January 2017; and 37 of 4 May 2018; in force as from 4 May 2018.