EU reform may considerably weaken passenger rights | EUROtoday

According to shopper advocates, passengers affected by delays could possibly be a lot much less prone to compensate sooner or later. The EU nations are at the moment advising on a European Commission’s proposal, which, amongst different issues, solely offers for compensation for considerably longer delays than earlier than.

According to the 2004 (EC 261) flight legislation regulation, passengers from a 3 -hour delay of passengers are at the moment entitled to a flat -rate compensation between 250 and 600 euros. According to the Commission’s proposal, this threshold is to be raised to 5 to 12 hours and rely on the flight distance. According to shopper advocates, round 80 % of the compensation could be eradicated.

Criticism of the Minister of Justice and shopper safety

Federal Minister of Justice Stefanie Hubig has clearly spoken out towards the mentioned change within the compensation rules. “Consumer rights are not a luxury that you can simply abolish in economically challenging times,” stated the SPD politician, who’s accountable for shopper safety within the federal authorities. It will due to this fact work to make sure that air vacationers will proceed to be compensated from a delay of three hours.

This adaptation could be a critical step backwards, stated the co-manager of the European Consumer Center Germany (EVZ), Karolina Wojtal. Most delays in air site visitors had been between two and 4 hours. “Airlines could be tempted to delay flights in a targeted manner instead of canceling them to avoid compensation.”

The European lobbying group “Airlines for Europe” (A4E) helps a reform with prolonged time thresholds. “If something goes wrong, it takes time to find a replacement aircraft or a replacement crew,” writes A4E by itself web site. With prolonged threshold values, the airways would have likelihood of discovering an answer that restore the flight schedule and convey passengers to their vacation spot. This would finally come in the direction of the passengers.

The reform has not but been determined. It remains to be unclear to what extent the EU nations will comply with the Commission’s proposal or make modifications. In addition, a closing compromise with the EU Parliament should be discovered. The results of these negotiations will resolve what the ultimate reform seems to be like.