Brussels, 11/04/2011 (Agence Europe) - As announced, on Monday 11 April the European Commission presented its analysis of the first six years of application of Regulation 261/2004 on the rights of air passengers and of the regulation on passengers with reduced mobility (EUROPE 10355), at the same time announcing the revision of Regulation 261/2004 and the publication of interpretative guidelines for the national application authorities for the regulation on persons with reduced mobility (1107/2006). As regards the regulation on the rights of passengers, concrete proposals are expected in 2012, on the basis of the results of a public consultation which European Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas intends to launch before the end of this year.
The revision aims to “clarify the legislation both for passengers and the industry”, the spokesperson to the commissioner, Helen Kearns, told the press. The commissioner plans to re-examine, amongst other things, issues related to the “extraordinary circumstances” behind delays and cancellations of flights, and the “limitations and liability resulting from the extraordinary circumstances” and the provisions in the matter of “compensation”, she explained. The revision, she continued, will also look at the provisions on the liability of airlines for lost and damaged luggage. These provisions “are not at this stage included in the scope of the national implementation bodies” of the legislation on passengers' rights, which means that there is no authority to which travellers can turn with their complaints in this area, Kearns said. The revision will also cover transporting passengers to their destination and the sharing of risks between operators of the supply chain and other problems which occurred further to multiple disturbances to air transport (snowfall, volcanic ash crisis) in 2010. By request of the industry, the Commission also intends to work towards greater harmonisation of the interpretation of current legislation by the national implementation authorities. It hopes to present guidelines for the interpretation of the regulation on passengers with limited mobility “before the end of this year” and “with a view to the Paralympic Games in London” in 2012, said Kearns. There will also be a clarification of some of the provisions, notably those on the “right to travel with certain medical equipment, such as oxygen masks”, she said. As well as these measures, the Commission is planning in the short term to reinforce the mandate of the network of the national authorities responsible for applying these measures, to allow it to adopt decisions in favour of a common interpretation and application of questions relating to passengers' rights and to set in place a new forum designed to ensure a return of information from consumer groups, NGOs and the sector regarding all issues to do with air passengers' rights, particularly the application of these. In parallel, it will present a communication later this year, to clarify certain key concepts to ensure that they are applied in the same way to all modes of transport and to transporting passengers to their destination via other modes of transport. (A.By./transl.fl)