Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

GERMANY | ERNST FÜHRICH 835 organisers provide security for the refund of all payments made on behalf of travellers, insofar as the relevant services which are part of a package are not performed as a consequence of their insolvency. If the carriage of passengers is included in the package, organisers will also have to provide security to the traveller’s repatriation. Also, the continuation of the package may be offered. The security shall be effective and shall cover reasonably foreseeable costs. c) Limit of € 110 million (1) Wide implementation . The Directive gives Member States a wide scope for implementation in Art. 17 PTD. So Germany has adopted the former insolvency protection of § 651k aF BGB (Sicherungsschein) to the new PTD. The PTD says that for the insolvency protection to be effective, it should cover the foreseeable amounts of payments and the foreseeable cost for repatriations 39 . However, effective protection should not have to take into account highly remote risks, for instance, the simultaneous insolvency of several of the largest organisers would disproportionally affect the cost of protection. In such cases, the guarantee for refunds may be limited 40 . (2) Ineffective protection . The German legislation has not reviewed the old liability cap of € 110 million because the largest insolvency in the past only cost about 30 million Euro. In my opinion, this liability cap would not be sufficient and urge instead an ‘industry-wide fund’ for higher insurance premiums for larger tour operators, based on their turnover and number of customers 41 . The European Court will have to decide, whether the German implementation ensures that this protection, in § 651r BGB, is effective and in line with the Directive. IV. COVID-19 PANDEMIC 1. The No. 1 Topic in Germany: Termination of travel contract before the start of the package By March 2020, as a result of the global COVID-19-Pandemic, package tours and individual travel in Germany have come to an almost complete standstill. 39 Recital 40, s. 1. 40 Recital 40, ss. 5, 6. 41 BT-Drs. 18/10822, 89; see more https://reiserechtfuehrich.com .