The Commission announced that it had sent letters of formal notice to Greece and Italy on Thursday 2 July, thereby initiating infringement proceedings against them.
It criticises the two states for having adopted legislation allowing airlines to offer vouchers as the only form of compensation to passengers whose flights have been cancelled.
The air passenger rights regulation (261/2004) requires carriers to reimburse customers who do not want a voucher (see EUROPE 12459/7).
A “letter of explanation” had already been sent to the EU27 on this subject last May. At that time, the Commission had identified States infringing the provisions on air passenger rights and package travel and others tolerating certain infringements (see EUROPE 12486/7), particularly in view of the difficulties encountered by the aviation sector.
The latter, unlike Greece and Italy, should not be concerned, however. “In the other States, we have not found any legislation that runs counter to passengers’ rights”, a spokesperson for the institution said on Thursday.
However, the Commission indicated that it is continuing to assess “the situation in other Member States by requesting further information on the application of the rules”.
In addition to their violation of air passenger rights, the Commission also criticises Greece and Italy for taking measures that contravene EU rules on water travel (1177/2010) and bus and coach travel (181/2011) as well as on rail passenger rights (1371/2007).
Both countries now have two months to fulfil their obligations, failing which the Commission may decide to send them a reasoned opinion. (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)