Activities of María IRIGOYEN PÉREZ related to 2011/2150(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the functioning and application of established rights of people travelling by air
Amendments (24)
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Underlines the importance of uniform enforcement across Member States and effective, dissuasive and proportionate penalties in order to create powerful economic incentives for the air carriers, as well as for the other actors involved, to comply with the provisions;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Taking into account the fact that the lack of information to passengers is a major obstacle to the effective application of Regulation 261/2004, it stresses the fact that it is necessary to ensure that passengers, particularly those in the most vulnerable positions, receive timely and accurate information in order to assess whether their rights have been properly respected and to know where to turn to in case of dissatisfaction;
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Notes that enforcement actions are rarely carried out and vary widely across Member States; therefore encourages the Commission to work in cooperation with the competent authorities and National Enforcement Bodies (hereinafter referred as "NEBs") in order to promote a uniform sanctioning and monitoring of infringements;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 e (new)
Paragraph 1 e (new)
1e. Notes that the process of a possible revision of Regulation 261/2004 and Regulation 1107/2006 will take time to complete; therefore calls on the Commission to consider introducing complementary interim measures to improve the application and enforcement of these Regulations. These may include keeping updated and published on the EC's website the informative documents on air passengers' rights, as well as fostering discussions and collaboration between Member States, NEBs, consumer organizations and airlines in order to disseminate best practices and build agreement on the controversial parts of the legislation;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Highlights that the scope, definition and identification of what is covered by the term "extraordinary circumstance" must be clearly stated in any future amendment of Regulation 261/2004 in order to prevent airlines from making abusive claims of the circumstances that led to cancellations or delays. It further invites the Commission to reassess the unlimited liability of air carriers regarding the right to care under extraordinary circumstances beyond the carrier's control;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Welcomes the Commission's commitment to analyse and revise the existing Regulations on air passenger rights aiming to improve the situation of passengers especially in the cases of long delay or cancellation; Believes that proper application of the existing rules by Member States and carriers, enforcement of sufficient and simple means of redress and providing passengers with accurate information concerning their rights should be the cornerstones of regaining passengers' trust;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Considers that a clear definition must be given for the most recurring terms which serve to establish the carrier's liability and/or the appropriate rights for passengers. This includes the terms "flight", "re-routing", "connection", "diversion", "cancellation", "long delay", "schedule" and "final destination";
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Appreciates the diversity of passenger rights depending on the different mode of transport such as rail, air, sea and inland amongst others; However believes that a holistic approach is needed to integrate all passenger rights namely the right of compensation, reimbursement, information, amongst others into one comprehensive, consolidated legislative framework;
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 c (new)
Paragraph 2 c (new)
2c. Emphasizes the widespread proliferation of unfair contract terms in air transport contracts and an increase in national case law prohibiting certain terms regularly used by airlines; thus urges the Commission to address this issue by black-listing specific unfair terms in the air transport sector. In particular it invites the Commission to include under the scope of Regulation 261/2004 the contractual issues related to the transferability of tickets, force majeure circumstances, the unilateral rescheduling of flights, the prohibition to use tickets separately unless based on very limited and objective "no show" criteria, mishandled/delayed/damaged luggage and the unreasonable restrictions on hand luggage;
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 d (new)
Paragraph 2 d (new)
2d. Notes that recent rulings of the European Court of Justice concerning passenger entitlement to compensation in the event of delays confirm the principle of equal treatment of cancelled flights and flights delayed for more than 3 hours; therefore urges the Commission to propose measures for the compensation of passengers whose flights have been delayed for more than 3 hours, without cancelling the right to be transferred to the next available flight;
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 e (new)
Paragraph 2 e (new)
2e. Suggests that further research could be carried out to examine the opportunity and feasibility of establishing one single legislative instrument comprising all provisions and principles on consumer rights in civil aviation in order to reduce fragmentation and reconcile inconsistencies across the different areas of passenger rights;
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Notes that existing commercial practices can make(such as check-in fees, priority boarding fees, card-payment fees, luggage fees, fees for complying with EU legislation or the blocking of double the amount of the price of the ticket from the passenger's bank account for a certain period of time) lead to substantive differences between the advertised and the final price thus making it difficult for consumers to understand or foresee all the components making up final air fares and therefore stresses the need to ensure price transparency, such asimilarly to the provisions on passenger transport services in the recently adopted Consumer Rights Directive;
Amendment 28 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Without prejudice to the freedom of airlines to freely set fares and rates, non- optional services which are an inseparable part from travelling by air, such as check-in or at least 1 item of checked luggage, should not be subject to additional fees;
Amendment 34 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Emphasises the need to ensure consistency between the different legislations on air passenger rights and in particular between the legal protection for package travellers and the lack of similar protection for seat-only passengers, thus following travel market trends whereby consumers increasingly arrange their travel themselves and avoiding any discrimination against passengers based on type of ticket purchase or unfair competition between the different service providers (air carriers, travel agencies or tour operators); In particular, it urges the Commission to propose binding measures ensuring that passengers buying seat-only seats are equally effectively protected in case of airline insolvency, as package travellers are already;
Amendment 40 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Is of the opinion that introducing a strict definition of what is understood by a "disabled person" or a "person with reduced mobility" will undermine the purpose of the current definition to provide broad assistance to the relevant groups requiring special assistance; but nevertheless suggests to consider whether elderly people who do not have reduced mobility, pregnant women and unaccompanied children should be included in the definition, possibly under the term "passengers with special needs";
Amendment 42 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Emphasises the need to provide special protection for vulnerable consumer groups, especially disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility; points out that these vulnerable groups need additional guarantees when exercising their rights as passengers and calls on the Commission, the Member States and the air carries to enforce those rights;
Amendment 44 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5b. Calls on the Commission to introduce binding measures for airlines and airports to harmonize their policies, especially with regards to booking procedures, procedures to ask for assistance and security control policies, and to provide better information on these issues from the time of booking until Passengers with Reduced Mobility (hereinafter referred as "PRMs"), and eventually Passengers with Special Needs, leave the airport at their destination point in order to guarantee equal travel opportunities and non-discrimination and to enable PRMs to know what to expect from the different airlines and at the different airports;
Amendment 45 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 c (new)
Paragraph 5 c (new)
5c. Highlights the fact that the training of air carrier and airport personnel plays a key role for guaranteeing the effective implementation of all parts of Regulation 1107/2006 and is the most cost-efficient means for ensuring non-discrimination; therefore stresses that adequate training of personnel at airports and on board the aircraft must be provided in close cooperation with representative organizations of persons with reduced mobility;
Amendment 47 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 e (new)
Paragraph 5 e (new)
5e. Emphasises the fact that there is a need to ensure that mobility equipment is not considered and/or treated as ordinary luggage, but as an indispensable tool for independence which is irreplaceable for the passenger; for this reason it underlines that mobility equipment should be handled with care by trained personnel according to strict and harmonized procedures for boarding and disembarking, allowing passengers to use this equipment as long as possible;
Amendment 48 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 f (new)
Paragraph 5 f (new)
5f. Believes that it is essential to ensure that people who need medical oxygen when travelling, obese passengers and passengers who are required to travel with an assistant are not required to pay additional charges or denied boarding unless on strictly safety grounds;
Amendment 50 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Calls on the Commission to propose measures for setting up harmonised and accessible complaint handling procedures and means of redress which will ensure the effective protection of the rights of passengers and will guarantee that they receive the compensation they are entitled to in a timely and efficient manner;
Amendment 53 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Calls on the Commission to explore the possibility to create a central EU unit that should ensure uniform and speedy enforcement of the consumers' passenger rights as air travellers;
Amendment 55 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6b. Notes that the deadlines by which carriers and National Enforcement Bodies respond to passengers are too long and they differ significantly from one carrier/NEB to another and for this reason invites the Commission to set fixed deadlines for responding to passengers' complaints, similarly to other Regulations on passengers' rights;
Amendment 58 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 c (new)
Paragraph 6 c (new)
6c. Underlines that air carriers must ensure the presence of at least one representative and/or complaint desk at each airport that they operate from to provide immediate assistance to passengers who have experienced a disruption of their flight(s) or whose rights have been violated;