Brussels, 20/03/2013 (Agence Europe) - The passenger rights review was presented to MEPs at the Parliamentary transport committee on Tuesday 19 March by European Commissioner Siim Kallas. In general, the review is seen as a good thing by MEPs because it helps to clarify current legislation. Nonetheless, they did flag up some of the changes they would like to see introduced. By and large, they believe that the Commission should have followed Court of Justice rulings on passenger rights to the letter.
Many MEPs intend to further tighten up the list of exceptional circumstances because they are unhappy that airlines have used this excuse to avoid paying compensation. Saïd El Khadraoui (S&D, Belgium) questions limiting provision of accommodation for stranded passengers to three days. He would also like to tackle the problems generated by airline bankruptcies. Michael Cramer MEP (Greens, Germany) highlighted unfair treatment of the railway compared to the airline industry with regard to compensation (compensation is paid only after five hours or more of delay) and asked: “Why not after one or two hours, like on the railways. If we had rules like this, the airline sector would surely become more punctual again”. Christian Democrat MEP Mathieu Grosch (Belgium), Gésine Meissner (Liberal, Germany) and French Socialist Bernadette Vergnaud also stress the right to information for all passengers, as well as appropriate informed interlocutors. (MD/transl.fl)