The European Commission by year-end is expected to issue a report on proposed revisions to air passenger rights legislation adopted in 2004, cabinet member Veronica Manfredi told the Association of Corporate Travel Executives here this month. Proportionality of compensation for delays to the ticket price paid by the traveler and cross-border infringements of the directive are among the issues under review. The goal is to have a revised law in place within a year and a half, said Manfredi, a member of the cabinet of Siim Kallas, E.C. vice president responsible for transport.
The transport office began a formal review of five pieces of passenger rights legislation last December and by March garnered more than 370 comments from consumer groups, airlines, airports, air organizations and others. The review included the European Union's five-year-old Air Passenger Rights law, known as EC 261, which established rules for compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding, cancellation and long delays. Consumer groups have complained that travelers don't know about the provisions or deadlines of the directive and that carriers too often deny claims.
The transport office in June held a hearing on the topic and the cabinet has continued to meet with various stakeholders, Manfredi said. The review was initiated, she said, as the laws took effect five years ago and it was time to consider necessary updates. A review also was necessitated, according to Kallas, given that the commission "intends to adopt a new horizontal communication on passenger rights covering all modes of transportation."
EC 261 has come under attack since the volcanic ash cloud crisis, during which the EU reminded carriers that the law required them to provide assistance--including meals and accommodations--even in "extraordinary circumstances." Carriers had to pay out hundreds of millions of euros, even though, obviously, the ash cloud wasn't their fault, Business Travel NewsEuropean reporter Amon Cohen said as he interviewed Manfredi via videoconference during the ACTE meeting.
Cohen relayed to Manfredi that at a recent conference "an EasyJet executive said, 'The law was not meant to pay for five nights in a hotel if there is an international crisis. We need proportionality. It doesn't make sense that they pay us €35 for a ticket and we pay them €1000 to stay in a hotel.' " Cohen then asked Manfredi: "Has he got a point there, that this really isn't appropriate to give that level of assistance in extraordinary circumstances?"
"The ash crisis has been identified as a particularly extraordinary circumstance," Manfredi replied. "The regulation was not conceived to address such a natural phenomenon or catastrophe. Nonetheless, it has proven to be a very effective tool. All in all, the regulation has matured to ensure that real assistance has been provided to many passengers in Europe and beyond. There must be some assumption of responsibility in extreme circumstances. This said, we are listening very carefully to what a number of air companies are telling us. Actually, we've invited them several times to provide us with data--figures--about the amount of financial damages they've paid to passengers. I'm sad to report that none of the companies have provided us with any figures. We hope that at some point we will get information on the damages incurred."
In August, the United Kingdom High Court asked the European Court of Justice to review a contentious November 2009 rulingon the passenger rights legislation and suspended U.K. courts from considering other such cases until the issue of compensation was clarified.
"The issue of proportionality has certainly been taken into account," Manfredi said. "But what would help us at this stage is if the airlines would provide us with figures to understand the damages. We would be in a good position to assess the extent of the damages" paid by airlines.
E.C. also is reviewing the issue of "cross-border enforcement," Manfredi said, as well as "another complaint we hear from air carriers from time to time: that they are treated better in certain member states" than others.
The legislation directs passengers to file claims first with carriers and then with one of 27 national enforcement bodies responsible for the directive. Some travel buyers, Cohen told Manfredi, question whether the national enforcement bodies have the necessary expertise and data to determine whether a delay was caused by an airline or another reason.
"Such examples should be proven on the basis of data," Manfredi replied. "All in all, we believe the national enforcement bureaus in 27 member states are doing a good job. We organized a number of extraordinary meetings after the ash cloud to ensure that this was the best way to organize.
"All these legal regulations and legal thinking are in place for one main goal: quality of service," Manfredi added. "The commission is extremely open to dialogue. We have to strike the right balance between users and carriers." Passengers or travel buyers interested in commenting on the topic should contact the E.C. transport office, she added.