Brussels, 12/02/2016 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission opened a public consultation on Tuesday 9 February to run until 5 May on Regulation 1371/2007 which relates to rail passengers' rights and obligations.
The Commission is seeking the views of citizens as well as public and private stakeholders on a range of deficiencies identified by an assessment published by the Commission in July 2012.
The report, which was commissioned from Steer Davies Gleave, a London-based agency that specialises in transport issues, says that no major problems had been identified in implementing the 2007 regulation but, nonetheless, highlights a number of failings. Among these are: - the misuse of exemptions by some member states with regard to national rail services; - failings in the implementation of certain provisions of the regulation (particularly Article 30 on application of the regulation and Article 32 on penalties); - lack of information on disruption to services; - the scale of compensation in cases of force majeur and missed connections; - assistance available to people with reduced mobility, particularly in terms of lack of information and sometimes the inability to provide certain services; - the lack of clarity over some definitions, including related to exemptions, and of some translations, in particular regarding the term personal security. Lastly, the issue of cyclists would appear to be a grey area, Article 5 of the regulation being somewhat unclear and not placing any obligations on rail companies.
In July of last year, the European Commission published interpretive guidance with a view to improving implementation of the regulation (see EUROPE 11350). The Commission hopes to bring forward a legislative proposal informed by this consultation before the end of the year. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)