Brussels, 18/03/2016 (Agence Europe) - If a member state so wishes, it can grant its respective national bodies the power to defend airline passenger rights in the context of individual requests for compensation, explained the European Court of Justice on Thursday 17 March.
The main challenge in two joint cases (C-145/15 and C-146/15) involved the question of what power these respective national bodies, set up under the regulation establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of refused embarkation or cancelled or significantly delayed flights (No. 261/2004) should have. The Court was asked to clarify their powers, as well as what the notions of “complaint” and “sanctions” actually meant.
The regulation in question sets out sufficiently generous parameters that allow for diverging legal interpretations. According to the conclusions of the Advocate General, (last January see EUROPE 11469), this kind of national body is in charge of ensuring respect for passenger rights in each state but should not deal with individual requests for compensation. According to the Advocate General, this responsibility should be the exclusive preserve of civil jurisdictions.
In its ruling, the Court arrived at the different conclusion. It also deemed that, obviously, these organisations are not obliged to follow up individual complaints because the notions of “complaint” and “sanctions” involve general breaches of the regulation, but it did consider that this power could be granted them under national legislation.
The Court justified this interpretation of the regulation because of its main objectives and the room for manoeuvre allowed member states for setting up these bodies in question and allocating them their respective powers. Therefore, if a member state considers that there is insufficient protection of airline passenger rights, it can enable the body in question to adopt measures that subsequently facilitate the follow-up to individual complaints. (Original version in French by Jan Kordys)