Transcript Regulation (EC) No 261/2004

Smooth travel in all transport modes
EU Passenger Law – Towards 2020
LTTL - Forum
6 December 2011
Salvatore D’ACUNTO
Head of Unit Passenger Rights
European Commission - DG for Mobility and Transport
EU Passenger Rights Rules
2001
White Paper European Transport policy for 2010
Time to decide
page 84: “the next step is to extend the Community’s passenger protection
measures to the other modes of transport, notably rail and maritime navigation
and, as far as possible, urban transport services”
2011
EU is the first integrated area with passenger rights rules
covering all modes of transport (also for PRMs)
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Air - Regulations 889/2002, 261/2004, 1107/2006 [& 1008/2008]
Rail - Regulation 1371/2007
Sea and inland waterways - Regulation 1177/2010 (applicable from 18
December 2012)
Bus and coaches - Regulation 181/2011 (applicable from 1 March 2013)
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Common rights and principles to all modes
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Non-discrimination (not for rail; for air, Reg. 1008/2008 art 23.2)
Assistance, information and accessibility for PRMs at no additional cost
Right to information
» before and at the various stages of travel, notably in case of travel disruption
» on the rights, in general
Right to renounce travelling (i.e. reimbursement of the full cost of the ticket)
when the trip is not carried out as planned
Right to the fulfilment of the transport contract in case of disruption
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re-routing (or rebooking) as an alternative to reimbursement
assistance (meals/refreshments and, if necessary, accommodation) while waiting
for re-routing
compensation (except in case of extraordinary circumstances)
An independent National Enforcement Body (NEB) designated to:
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handle complaints of alleged breaches
supervise application (sanctions)
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Differences between the modes
Scope and exemptions
Transport of person accompanying PRMs (for free in ships and buses)
Definition of delay in relation to the right to assistance, reimbursement,
re-routing or compensation (e.g. from 60 to 300 min.)
Limitations to the right to assistance while waiting for re-routing
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no limitation for air and rail transport
€80 per night & for 3 nights in waterborne transport and for 2 nights for coaches
no accommodation for weather conditions (ships) and major natural disasters (buses)
Amount of compensation (lump-sum/distance in air vs.% of ticket)
Conditions excluding the obligation to pay compensation
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extraordinary circumstances in air and waterborne transport,
circumstances not connected to railway or fault of a third person or the rail passenger
offer of the choice reimbursement/rerouting in coach transport
Right to information regarding delay
Reply to complaints from passengers (e.g. time line)
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Application and enforcement
Transport operators (carriers and infrastructure managers)
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to comply with the obligations of the Regulations
to respond to complaints initially
Member States – designation of national enforcement body/bodies - NEB
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to deal with individual complaints (only after they have [not] been handled by the
operator)
monitor the application of rules
adopt and apply sanctioning schemes (effective, proportionate, dissuasive)
European Commission
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monitors the application and enforcement by Member States
organises meetings with NEBs to facilitate the exchange of experience and best
practices
provides common interpretative guidance for an uniform application of the rules
can start infringement procedures against Member States in case of systematic
lack of application/enforcement
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What’s Next? Short term (1)
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April 2011 Communication on APR highlighted the need for
» more uniform interpretation
» more effective enforcement through more systematic and structured
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cooperation with NEB (ad hoc network) and stakeholders (ad hoc platform)
enhanced passenger awareness of their rights
(possible) revision of Regulation 261/2004
(Possible) Revision of Regulation 261/2004
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Current independent study on the application of the Regulation
Public consultation on APR – December 2011
Impact assessment to evaluate impact of different scenarios for the revision
Proposal foreseen for end of 2012
December 2011: Adoption of Horizontal Communication on
passenger rights in all transport modes
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What’s Next? Short term (2)
Improvement of enforcement through reinforced cooperation with NEB
and stakeholders
Follow-up of the April 2011 application Report on Regulation 1107/2006
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interpretative guidelines on the application of Regulation 1107/2006
after consultation with NEBs and stakeholders (Spring 2012)
European Parliament Own Initiative Report on the two 2011
Commission Communications on the APR and PRM Regulations
(rapporteur: Mr Taylor – Greens)
[NB: This is a follow-up of EESC report of October 2011]
15 Pending cases in front of the EU Court of Justice:
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13 on air passenger rights
2 on rail passenger rights
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What’s Next? Long term
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Uniform interpretation of EU passenger rights through Guidelines on
» air PRMs in 2012
» rail passengers rights in 2013
» waterborne transport passenger rights in 2014
» road transport passenger rights in 2015
Better quality of PRM transport (notably accessibility of
infrastructures - Accessibility Act in 2012)
Further passenger rights in the international context
--A future instrument on passenger rights in multimodal journeys ?
A future single EU regulation on passenger rights in all transport
modes (EU Codex)?
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Further information on our Website:
http://ec.europa.eu/transport/passengers/index_en.htm
THANK YOU
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