The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, chaired the inaugural meeting of the European Parliament delegation to the Conciliation Committee on air passenger rights held on Wednesday 28 January. This procedure follows the adoption of its position at second reading (see EUROPE 13791/7, 13795/18).
According to a parliamentary source contacted by Agence Europe, the President herself will be part of the team responsible for negotiating with the Council of the EU. She will be accompanied by the text’s rapporteur, Andrey Novakov (EPP, Bulgarian) and Virginijus Sinkevičius (Greens/EFA, Lithuanian), Vice-Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Transport and Tourism (TRAN).
Another European source noted that this is the first time since 2013 that a legislative proposal has entered the conciliation phase. The first source explained that this was a procedural step. The MPs showed themselves to be “super united” around a “strong mandate”.
The EU Council will be made up of representatives of the 27 Member States. The MEPs have not yet set a clear agenda, according to the first source. According to the second source, they have agreed to meet again in February but a specific date is still to be set.
The latter pointed out that although the European Parliament can informally initiate exploratory discussions, the six-week deadline (plus another possible two-week extension) for finding an agreement only begins to run once the EU Council has officially notified the European Parliament of its position at second reading. (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)