Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

668 COLLECTIVE COMMENTARY ABOUT THE NEW PACKAGE TRAVEL DIRECTIVE 11. Significant alteration of the travel contract. According to article 11 of the PTD, in case of significant alteration by the organiser of the main characteristics of the travel services, the traveller may, within a reasonable period specified by the organiser, either accept a proposed change or terminate the contract. The PTD lets the Member States decide what happens if the traveller does not respond within the period set by the organiser. The Belgian legislator has decided in article 26, 3° of the Law that if the traveller has not expressly accepted the proposed change within that period, the contract is automatically terminated. 12. Organiser’s liability and international conventions. The Belgian legislator has decided to limit the organiser’s liability according to the scope of application of international treaties, regarding such international conventions as the Montreal Convention of 1999 for the Unification of certain Rules for International Carriage by Air, the Convention of 1980 concerning International Carriage by Rail (COTIF) and the Athens Convention of 1974 on the Carriage of Passengers and their Luggage by Sea. 13. Statute of limitations. Finally, Belgium has decided to keep the limitation period for introducing claims at two years from the date indicated on the contract as the end of the package or the linked travel arrangement, increasing this period from one year under the old law. 4. ABOUT THE INSOLVENCY PROTECTION 14. Article 17 of the PTD stipulates that Member States must ensure that organisers established in their territory provide security for the refund of all payments made by or on behalf of travellers, insofar as the relevant services are not performed as a consequence of the organiser’s insolvency. If the carriage of passengers is included in the package travel contract, organisers shall also provide security for the travellers’ repatriation. As mentioned above, this obligation has been implemented in Belgium in article 54 of the Law, and extended to retailers, as well as to organisers and retailers selling single travel services. 15. Despite the efforts of the European legislator, who organises in article 18 of the PTD a mutual recognition of insolvency protection and administrative