60 TOURISM LAW IN EUROPE sec. 19: penal provisions; sec. 20: entry into force; sec. 21: execution; and sec. 22: implementation note. Austria has not made use any of the following options which the Directive grants to the Member States as exceptions to the principle of full harmonisation: a right of the traveller to withdraw from the package travel contract within a period of 14 days without giving any reason30; extending responsibility for the performance of the package to the retailer31; or limitation of the organiser’s liability according to international conventions which are not binding for the Union32. 3.1. Excursus: Contractual Limitation of the Organiser’s Liability – Legislative Confusion in Austria While article 14(4) of the PTD provides that “(…) the package travel contract may limit compensation to be paid by the organiser as long as that limitation does not apply to personal injury or damage caused intentionally or with negligence and does not amount to less than three times the total price of the package”, its Austrian implementation in sec. 12(4) of the Austrian Package Travel Act states that “The compensation to be paid by the organiser may not be limited in the contract in advance”. This means that the PTD explicitly allows for a contractual limitation of the organiser’s liability, unless such limitation applies to personal injuries or damages caused by fault, whereas the Austrian Package Travel Act regards any contractual limitation of the organiser’s liability in advance as unlawful. The Austrian legislator’s explanation for this clear contradiction is that the final sentence of Article 14(4) PTD has not been implemented because the PTD would not provide a particular dogmatic basis for the attribution of damage. While the liability under the PTD did not seem to be linked to fault, according to Austrian understanding, civil liability usually depends on fault. Since an organiser was not liable at all under Austrian law without fault, any possibility of 30 Art. 12 para 5 PTD. 31 Art. 13 para 1 PTD. 32 Art. 14 para 4 PTD.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTE4NzM5Nw==