The national experts of the Council of the European Union’s Land Transport Working Group reached agreement on Wednesday 13 November on the revision of Regulation (1371/2007) on rail passengers’ rights and obligations.
Compared to the last draft compromise presented by the Finnish Presidency of the EU Council (see EUROPE 12367/16), very few changes have been made.
We will simply highlight a small addition to the article on direct tickets.
In the manner of the last compromise, the agreement stipulates that the ticket seller or tour operator who sold the tickets and combined them on its own initiative is required to refund and compensate 50% of the amount paid if the passenger misses one or more routes (due to delays or cancellations).
However, the text adds that such reimbursement or compensation must be made within 30 days of receipt of the passenger’s request.
Member States’ ambassadors to the EU (Committee of Permanent Representatives - Coreper) will now be invited to approve the compromise at their meeting on 20 November. In which case, the text will then be submitted to the State Transport Ministers for political agreement (‘general approach’) at the ‘Transport Council’ on 2 December 2019.
The European Parliament adopted its position at first reading on 15 November 2018 (see EUROPE 12138/7).
However, there are several major differences between Parliament’s position and this agreement.
The latter includes, for example, the possibility for a railway company to be exempted from its responsibilities to a customer in the event of “extreme weather conditions or major natural disasters”.
To the great displeasure of European railway undertakings, however, the parliamentarians ruled out “extraordinary circumstances” from allowing such a possibility.
If a general approach emerges on 2 December, the subsequent interinstitutional negotiations (‘trilogues’) could therefore prove difficult. (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)