Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

ARTICLE 24 | AFONSO RIBEIRO CAFÉ 501 major infractions related to the provisions of the Directive for protection, for instance: inexistence of valid civil liability insurance; non-replacement by the trader of sums to the guarantee fund (FGVT) pursuant to their responsibility; serious irregularities in the management of the company 30 , etc. The application of these precautionary measures shall be duly grounded and presupposes the existence of serious damages to travellers or the market. Some infractions can even provoke the cancellation of registration in the mandatory National Registration Office of Travel Agencies (RNAVT). Portuguese law appoints ASAE, a special police body for economic crimes, as the national entity with powers to inspect and prosecute this kind of infringement of the law. Article 37 provides a fund named Tourism and Travel Guarantee Fund to ensure the liability of travel agents. This fund was created under Decreto Lei No 61/2011 of 6 May 2011 and remained after the last regulation. The Tourism and Travel Guarantee Fund has a minimum amount of €4,000,000.00 and is financed by the travel agencies, by means of a mandatory contribution. The Tourism and Travel Guarantee Fund is jointly and severally liable for travellers’ claims in relation to services delivered by travel and tourism agencies, and shall be used to meet: a) refunds for payments made to travellers or on their account where the services bought are not provided due to the insolvency of a travel and tourism agency; b) the refund of sums paid by travellers with regard to non-compliance or defective compliance with contracts concluded with travel and tourism agencies; c) the refund of additional expenses incurred by clients as a result of the non-provision of services or defective provision. Excluded from the scope of the Tourism and Travel Guarantee Fund are payments of travellers’ claims: a) relating to the isolated purchase of air travel tickets; b) relating to travel on the basis of a general agreement for the organisation of business travel. The state is the responsible for the management of the fund. Article 41 requires the travel agencies to have civil liability insurance, covering the risks arising from their activity which ensure the reimbursement of claims for personal injury and damage to property caused to clients or third parties by actions or omissions of the agency or its representatives. 30 According to article 45, precautionary measures are applicable whenever failures in the management of the business are detected, entailing compliance defaults that jeopardise the interests of suppliers or travellers or the normal conditions of market functioning.