On 16 September 2022, the Commission launched a public consultation to gather the stakeholders’ opinions on the possibility to consolidate and simplify the European laws on passenger rights in light of the lessons learned from the coronavirus outbreak, thereby making them more fit for future crises.

Experience acquired so far, indeed, highlighted how, on the one hand, passenger rights still lack clarity and, on the other hand, their implementation and enforcement remain sometimes insufficient and ineffective due to, amongst other things, i) the low passengers’ awareness of their rights, ii) their difficulties to claim and assert the rights themselves, iii) passenger rights across modes not being fully consistent, and iv) the fact that passenger rights, although they should continue to apply regardless of external circumstances, are not sufficiently protected in case of mass disruptions and/or operator insolvency. 

The initiative, therefore, aims at consolidating and simplifying the passenger rights regulatory framework by enhancing its crisis resilience, thereby creating a more homogeneous system which takes into account the specificities of each transport mode. For that purpose, the Commission set two specific objectives, that is i) a better application and enforcement of air, waterborne and bus & coach passenger rights, and ii) addressing aspects not currently covered for all modes of transport such as, amongst the others, the implementation of the rules when intermediaries are involved and whether there is an adequate protection of passengers against the risk of mass disruption and/or operator insolvency. 

Stakeholders will have until 7 December 2022 to provide their comments, which will then merge into the impact assessment prepared by the Commission to support the initiative.

Marco Stillo