BEUC NEWS - 18.04.2024

The European Commission has proposed three texts¹ to improve passenger rights frameworks in Europe in its November 2023 Passenger Mobility Package. BEUC has released three position papers and three two-pagers (called ‘Key Points for Consumers’) summarising the achievements and shortcomings of the different proposals.

•    MULTIMODAL PASSENGER RIGHTS

Currently, when consumers combine different transport modes, they are not protected by harmonised rights for the whole journey. Instead, passengers depend completely on operators’ terms and conditions. This leaves them in the dark about key safeguards such as knowing which operator should provide information and re-routing options in case of disruption.

Although BEUC welcomes the Commission’s willingness to introduce a multimodal passenger rights framework, we consider the proposed Regulation to be far from sufficient. Strong passenger rights are essential to promote multimodal travel and must apply to all types of multimodal contracts.

READ THE KEY POINTS FOR CONSUMERS
READ OUR FULL POSITION

•    PACKAGE TRAVEL DIRECTIVE

European consumers often book their holidays through pre-arranged or customised packages, which are regulated by the existing Package Travel Directive (PTD). Despite being an important consumer protection instrument, the Thomas Cook bankruptcy and the COVID-19 pandemic have revealed important shortcomings of the current PTD.

BEUC sees the proposal as a good first step towards more robust protection for consumers using package travel services, including during crises. However, decision-makers must amend the proposal to substantially improve consumer protection. It means including deadlines for travel agents to deal with consumer complaints and ensuring authorities can impose dissuasive sanctions based on traders’ annual turnover to ensure compliance, among others.

READ THE KEY POINTS FOR CONSUMERS
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•    ENFORCEMENT AND ONLINE BOOKING INTERMEDIARIES

EU passenger rights create common and harmonised rules making sure passengers are protected. The rights cover all transport modes and apply to over 13 billion consumers annually. However, new actors such as online booking intermediaries have emerged. Recent crises have highlighted shortcomings of current regulations, lax enforcement in particular. The COVID-19 pandemic has also revealed legal gaps among passenger rights instruments.

BEUC is disappointed with the proposal and urges the EU to do far better to protect passengers and their rights. While the proposal improves information and refund rules when airlines cancel tickets purchased via online booking intermediaries, it insufficiently addresses enforcement and fails to correct discrepancies between Passenger Rights Frameworks and the Package Travel Directive.

READ THE KEY POINTS FOR CONSUMERS
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¹ Multimodal passenger rights: Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on passenger rights in the context of multimodal journeys.
  Enforcement of passenger rights: Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulations (EC) No 261/2004, (EC) No 1107/2006, (EU) No 1177/2010, (EU) No 181/2011 and (EU)   2021/782 as regards enforcement of passenger rights in the Union.
  Package Travel Directive: Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive (EU) 2015/2302 to make the protection of travellers more effective and to simplify and clarify certain aspects of the Directive.