Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

ARTICLE 13 | FRANCESCO MORANDI AND CHIARA TINCANI 329 regarding the third chapter on the subject of contractual amendments, those regarding the fourth chapter on the responsibility of the organiser and those regarding the fifth chapter on insolvency (corresponding to art. 7 and the third, fourth and fifth chapters of the Directive) are also applied to the retailers, provided they have concluded the negotiation and that their implementation does not distort the national legislation. Therefore, they did not go far beyond a substantial translation of the Directive. Through the Drittes Gesetz zur Aenderung reiserechtlicher Vorschriften 17 July 2017 concerning the modification of the Buergerliches Gesetzbuch, the Federal Republic of Germany has opted for a distinct responsibility. The organiser is obliged to execute the contract, taking into account the information obligations (art. 651d of the Buergerliches Gesetzbuch), the contractual modifications (articles 651f and 651g of the Buergerliches Gesetzbuch) and the non-fulfilment in the execution of the package. The retailers handle the sale, as established by art. 651v and their responsibility is limited to information obligations, as far as their contribution is concerned. Further to art. 651v, paragraph 2, they can accept payments on behalf of the organiser, and this must stem from a copy of the contract delivered to the traveller. The organiser can authorize the retailer to receive disputes which, in this case, must be sent promptly. However, if the former is not established in a European State or exercises outside this economic space, the retailers are responsible for the execution of the contract, unless they prove that the other operator has acted in compliance with German law. Finally, according to art. 651x, the retailers are responsible for errors due to technical defects in the booking system attributable to them and can be relieved by proving that the computer malfunction is caused by the traveller or by unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances. The German model is therefore decidedly opposed to the others examined and is closer to the Italian model, given that it is based on the separate reconstruction of the nature of the package travel contract and the sales contract and on the related analytical determination of the subject regarding the respective obligations. 4. THE RETAILER’S LIABILITY WITHIN THE ITALIAN EXPERIENCE Within this context, characterized by a fragmentation of the discipline models and the substantial renunciation by the European Union legislator in completing