Following exchanges with the ambassadors of the Member States to the European Union (Coreper) on Wednesday 10 June, the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU presented a counter-proposal and a roadmap to prepare the Conciliation Committee with the European Parliament on air passenger rights (see EUROPE 13884/6).
The Member States thus gave the Cyprus Presidency the green light to continue negotiations with MEPs on the basis of the proposals put forward on Wednesday.
This new version provides in particular for sticking to European case law on extraordinary circumstances in the event of safety shortcomings, in order to avoid overly lax rules and strengthen legal certainty. In other words, safety problems would not fall within the scope of ‘extraordinary circumstances’ justifying non-reimbursement by airlines in the event of disruptions.
Moreover, this new text proposes providing all passengers affected by delays or cancellations with a link setting out their rights and the steps to follow in order to claim compensation. This link would be sent within 96 hours of the incident, instead of 48 hours as the latest proposals had suggested.
Once reviewed with the European Parliament negotiators, the text will be assessed again within Coreper on Friday 12 June. (Original version in French by Juliette Verdes)