Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

GERMANY | ERNST FÜHRICH 829 of conformity”, in German named “Reisemangel”. The traveller may also request the remedy from a travel defect, or both request the remedy and demand the reimbursement of necessary expenses. 7. Determination The §§ 651l through 651n BGB provide regulations on the rights of travellers to terminate the package, for price reduction and compensation for damages. The current right that allows the organiser to terminate the contract after the start of the package, in the case of force majeure (now unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances), is now deleted and found in §§ 651h IV, V BGB. 8. Limit compensation In line with the PTD and concentrated in § 651p BGB, the possibility of a limitation of liability of the organiser for damages other than personal injury. 9. Assistance § 651q BGB expresses the organiser’s duty to provide assistance when the traveller is in difficulty. 10. Insolvency protection The §§ 651r – 651t BGB address the organiser’s obligation for insolvency protection, on the old structure of § 651k BGB. So, the German insolvency protection remains with the “Sicherungsschein”, a certification documenting a direct entitlement against the provider of the insolvency protection 20 . The Directive does not contain, in Artt. 17 – 19, any detailed specifications, but it requires, however, that security is effective, covering the reasonably foreseeable costs 21 . To ensure this, the foreseen amount of € 110 million, in § 651k BGB aF, is in both the old and the new regulations, the maximum annual amount by an insurance company or a bank. 11. Information by retailer A new regulation is summarizing the obligations of the retailer for information requirements (§ 651v BGB). 20 Recital 39, s. 5 PTD. 21 Recitals 39 and 40 PTD.