1.Member States shall ensure that organisers established in their territory provide security for the refund of all payments made by or on behalf of travellers in the event of the organiser’s insolvency. That security shall include the protection of payments made where a package is not performed in full or in part as a consequence of the organiser’s insolvency, or where the traveller is entitled to a refund. Where a traveller receives a voucher, the security shall be limited to the amount of the traveller’s refund right. If the return journey is included in the package travel contract, organisers shall also provide security for the traveller’s repatriation. Continuation of the package may be offered.
Organisers not established in a Member State which sell or offer for sale packages in a Member State, or which by any means direct such activities to a Member State, shall be obliged to provide the security in accordance with the law of that Member State.
2.The security referred to in paragraph 1 shall be effective and shall cover reasonably foreseeable costs. It shall cover the amounts of payments made by or on behalf of travellers in respect of packages, taking into account the length of the period between the receipt of any payments and the completion of the packages, as well as the estimated cost of repatriations in the event of the organiser’s insolvency. The security shall at all times be sufficient to cover the cost of refunds and, where applicable, repatriations. The security shall take into account the fact that insolvencies might occur when organisers hold the highest amount of payments. The security shall also take into account any changes in the volume of sales of packages.
3.To ensure the effectiveness of insolvency protection, Member States shall supervise the insolvency protection arrangements of organisers established on their territory and monitor the availability of insolvency protection solutions.
4.An organiser’s insolvency protection shall benefit travellers regardless of their place of residence, the place of departure or where the package is sold and irrespective of the Member State where the entity in charge of the insolvency protection is located.
5.When the performance of the package is affected by the organiser’s insolvency, the security shall be available free of charge to ensure repatriations and, if necessary, the financing of accommodation prior to the repatriation.
6.Travellers shall receive a refund of their payments without undue delay and, in any event, no later than six months after the submission of the documents necessary for the examination of their application.
In exceptional and duly justified cases, including where the entity or authority responsible for processing the application receives an exceptionally high number of applications within a short period of time, or where the insolvency of the organiser affects travellers from several Member States, refunds of payments shall be provided within nine months after submission of the necessary documents.
Member States may provide for shorter periods than those referred to in the first and second subparagraphs.
7.Member States shall ensure that, in the event of an organiser’s insolvency, travellers are informed without undue delay, through appropriate communication channels, of at least the following:
the fact of the organiser’s insolvency;
the name and contact details of the entity in charge of insolvency protection, or, where applicable, the name and contact details of the competent authority;
their rights in relation to packages that have already started or that can still be performed; and
the documents that travellers need to submit in order to request a refund.
8.Each Member State shall ensure that online inventories listing all organisers and, where applicable, retailers established in its territory and covered by insolvency protection under the national provisions transposing this Directive are publicly accessible and kept up to date. Member States shall share with the Commission the links to the websites of their inventories when they notify the national provisions transposing this Directive and shall communicate any changes to those links to the Commission without delay. The Commission shall make publicly available on its website a list of the links received from the Member States. The Commission shall update that list without undue delay whenever a Member State communicates a new link to it.
9.Where justified in light of payments received by retailers, Member States may require retailers, in addition to organisers, to take out insolvency protection, without prejudice to Article 13(1), second subparagraph.