Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

62 COLLECTIVE COMMENTARY ABOUT THE NEW PACKAGE TRAVEL DIRECTIVE Chapter IV (performance of the package) contains the rules concerning the responsibility for the performance of the package (art. 13), the price reduction and compensation for damages (art. 14), the possibility to contact the organiser via the retailer (art. 15) and the obligation to provide assistance (art. 16). Chapter V is dedicated to the protection from insolvency and contains two articles; 17 on the effectiveness and scope of insolvency protection and 18, on mutual recognition of insolvency protection and administrative cooperation. Directive 90/314 / EEC established a general ‘organizer/retailer’ obligation which is to provide protection from insolvency to ensure the repatriation of travellers and reimbursement of prepayments in the event of insolvency. Due to different legal solutions chosen by Member States, this often led to a doubling of costs for organizers and retailers. To facilitate cross-border transactions, a mutual recognition of insolvency protection and administrative cooperation under the law of the Member State of establishment of the organizer or retailer, is explicitly stated. To ensure administrative cooperation, Member States are required to designate central contact points. Chapter VI, with a single article, regulates the ‘linked travel arrangements’. The definition in Article 3.5 reads: “at least two different types of travel services purchased for the purpose of the same trip or holiday, not constituting a package, resulting in the conclusion of separate contracts with the individual travel service providers, if a trader facilitates: (a) on the occasion of a single visit or contact with his point of sale, the separate selection and separate payment of each travel service by travellers; or (b) in a targeted manner, the procurement of at least one additional travel service from another trader where a contract with such other trader is concluded at the latest 24 hours after the confirmation of the booking of the first travel service. Where not more than one type of travel service as referred to in point (a), (b) or (c) of point 1 and one or more tourist services as referred to in point (d) of point 1 are purchased, they do not constitute a linked travel arrangement if the latter services do not account for a significant proportion of the combined value of the services and are not advertised as, and do not otherwise represent, an essential feature of the trip or holiday”. Article 19, entitled ‘insolvency protection and information requirements for linked travel arrangements’, provides that “Member States shall ensure that traders facilitating linked travels arrangements shall provide security for the