Brussels, 17/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - In a report published on Friday 13 March, the European Commission expressed concern about the high level of national derogations to the regulation on rail passenger rights and responsibilities (1371/2007).
According to the Commission, this situation leads to the coexistence of very disparate rights in the EU, to the disadvantage of a single body of passenger rights.
The regulation entered into force in 2009 and allows member states to introduce exceptions for domestic journeys (for a maximum period of five years and which can be renewed on two occasions), for urban, suburban and regional journeys and those for which a significant part of them are outside the EU (renewable and valid for five years). At the end of 2014 at the end of the first five-year period, only four states had not applied any exemptions: Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands and Slovenia.
Belgium, the Czech Republic and Lithuania granted exemptions to long distance domestic services. Austria, Finland, Germany, Luxembourg and Sweden granted exemptions to urban, suburban and regional trains. Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania allowed exemptions for journeys that travel outside the EU's borders a significant amount of time. Nine countries granted exemptions to certain specific articles: Croatia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Slovakia and the United Kingdom.
Overall, the Commission points out that the exemptions particularly involved articles whose application could be considered the most expensive: the payment of fees upfront in the event of an accident (Article 13), responsibility for delays (Article 15), repayment (Article 16), compensation (Article 17) and assistance (Article 18).
Over the second five-year period (2015-2020), only four countries indicated that they would reduce the number of exemptions: Bulgaria, Estonia, Poland and Belgium. This last country will become the fifth EU country to apply the regulation in full. The Commission concluded: “Fair competition conditions for railway companies and a high level of passenger protection in the EU are subsequently still a remote possibility”. (Jean Comte)