On Monday 14 October, the Finnish Presidency of the Council of the European Union sent experts from the Land Transport Working Group a second draft compromise on the recast of Regulation (1371/2007) on the rights and obligations of rail passengers.
This document, of which EUROPE has had a copy, presents some new features compared to the first draft compromise tabled by the Finnish Presidency at the end of July (see EUROPE 12307/1).
In particular, the text suggests that railway companies should be able to restrict a passenger's right to take his or her bicycle on board if "the rolling stock does not allow for it". However, if a passenger is prohibited from carrying his or her bicycle when he or she has a reservation with a bicycle, he or she may request a re-routing or a refund.
In addition, while it is still provided that Member States may not discriminate on the basis of nationality - by offering different contractual conditions and tariffs according to the nationality of the final customer -, a recital of principle is now suggested so that they will still have the right to set social tariffs, provided that they are proportionate and independent of the nationality of the passenger concerned.
Another change compared to the previous draft compromise is that, when a person with reduced mobility or disability needs assistance to travel and it cannot be provided by the railway company or the station manager, the passenger's personal assistant may travel, where appropriate, free of charge, and where feasible, seated next to the disabled person.
In the event of re-routing of disabled passengers or passengers with reduced mobility, the specific needs of these persons must be taken into account in the context of the proposed alternative service.
Helsinki stipulates that refunds must be made within 30 days of receipt of the request.
In addition, for the Finnish Presidency, strikes by the company's employees, actions taken by another company or by infrastructure or station managers should not be covered by the exemptions relating to exceptional circumstances.
Finally, a missed connection is considered to have occurred where a passenger misses his or her train, not only because of the delay or cancellation of one or more previous trains, but also because of the departure of a train before the scheduled time.
This second draft compromise will be discussed by the experts from the EU Council's Land Transport Working Group on 23 October.
Three months ago, the Finnish Minister of Transport, Sanna Marin, announced that she wanted to reach a political agreement ('general approach') on this subject in the EU Council in December (see EUROPE 12303/6).
For its part, in the absence of a potential prospect of an interinstitutional agreement on this text before the end of the parliamentarians' previous mandate, the European Parliament adopted its position at first reading last November (see EUROPE 12138/7). (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)