After an initial attempt on Wednesday 28 May (see EUROPE 13650/5), Member States’ representatives to the European Union (Coreper) were still unable to reach an agreement on the revision of air passenger rights, on Wednesday 4 June. The thresholds for entitlement to compensation remain the major stumbling block.
The EU Council remains divided into four groups: those who support the Polish Presidency’s proposal with thresholds of four and six hours depending on distance; those who support the European Commission’s initial proposal with thresholds of five and nine hours; those who prefer to stick with the current situation with a threshold of three and six hours; and Germany, which has suggested having a single threshold of three hours for all flights.
“Everyone is staying on the same lines, although some who were more reluctant to drop the Commission’s proposal may now support the Polish Presidency’s proposal”, a European source told Agence Europe.
As compared to last week, the Presidency has clarified the revision clause, proposing that the Commission be required to analyse the data after three years, so that it can propose updates to the thresholds if necessary. But this was not enough to secure a qualified majority.
Delays and cancellations on the increase since 2004. On Tuesday 3 June, the Commission sent the Council statistics from Eurocontrol, the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, on flights cancelled and delayed for more than three hours, the number of which has risen steadily since 2004. This accompanying document, which Agence Europe has been able to consult, was requested by the Presidency.
Delays increased by 86% between 2004 and 2024, from 0.31% to 0.58% of all flights, and by 36% since 2019, from 0.42% to 0.58% of all flights. In absolute numbers, the number of flights delayed by more than three hours more than doubled between 2004 and 2024. Similarly, the share of cancelled flights as a percentage of all flights increase by 32% between 2014 and 2024, from 1.6% to 2.1%. This share has risen by 25% since 2019, from 1.7% to 2.1%.
According to the source, Poland expects to reach a political agreement on Thursday 5 June at the Council of European ministers (see EUROPE 13652/13). If negotiations fail, it has no intention of presenting a progress report. In this way, it hopes to put pressure on Member States to reach a compromise, since without this report, there is a risk that negotiations will have to start from scratch during the forthcoming Danish Presidency, which begins on Tuesday 1 July. (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)