Last December, the Commission adopted two legislative proposals creating sets of rights for passengers using bus and maritime services on both domestic and international routes which are similar to the measures introduced for airline and rail passengers. The proposals are going through the codecision procedure with QMV required at the Council. On 23 April, the European Parliament adopted two reports, in first reading, endorsing the Commission’s proposals. The EU Czech Presidency is expecting to reach an agreement, on both proposals, at the June Transport Council. Adopting such proposals would result in better benefits for passengers however they entail increased costs to operators which are likely to be passed on to passengers in the form of higher fares. It remains to be seen what will come out from the negotiations.
The Commission’s proposal for a Regulation concerning the rights of passengers when travelling by sea and inland waterway covers domestic and international commercial passenger maritime and inland waterway services, including cruises within the Community. All Member States support the general objective of the Commission proposal to ensure non-discrimination of disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility as well as to strengthen passenger rights in general. Nevertheless, several member states would like to limit its field of application.
According to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Transport, Jim Fitzpatrick the proposal applies a “one size fits all” approach. The Minister has explained to the European Scrutiny Committee that the scope of the proposal is too wide and “takes no account of the varying size of ports or the diverse nature of carriers providing services on inland waterways, ferry routes or cruises.”
Several Member States stressed that inland waterway services are often of short duration and that the sector consists of many small businesses and whose harbour infrastructures are less developed than those of maritime ports.
The draft regulation covers all types of vessels carrying more than 12 passengers, including combined cargo and passenger ships. Some Member States believe that the draft regulation should not apply to ships operated mainly for the carriage of cargo.
The European Parliament has voted to limit the scope of the draft regulation to passenger ships.
Under the draft proposal carriers would be required to offer tariffs which are non-discriminatory on grounds of nationality or residence. It also prohibits any discrimination on grounds of disability or reduced mobility as regard booking a trip or boarding a ship. It provides for special and free assistance for passengers with reduced mobility.
The draft regulation provides for obligations to be imposed on carriers in case of cancellation or delay of any service. In case of a more than 60 minutes delay, passengers should be offer free meals and refreshments or, if there is a delayed overnight, passengers should be provided with free accommodation.
The Commission has based this provision on the aviation model however the Government believes that this is not appropriate. Ports may not have catering facilities available therefore some operators might find difficult to fulfill such requirement. Moreover, the Government believes that it is not proportional to require the carrier to pay for hotel accommodation for their passengers who are only a few miles from home. According to the Government the requirement to provide passengers delayed for more than two hours with alternative travel arrangements may also be difficult for many carriers to fulfill.
Under the Commission proposal maritime transport companies will have to provide passengers with compensation if a journey is interrupted. Such compensation payments would not apply in cases of delay or cancellation caused by “exceptional circumstances” which could not be avoided even if all “reasonable measures had been taken.” The European Parliament introduced a new provision under which the new rules will not apply in case of force majeure, such as weather conditions but also in case of government sanction, blockage, embargo, strikes, lockout or electricity cuts.
Member States would be required to designate bodies responsible for enforcing the regulation and for handling complaints from passengers as well as to establish penalties applicable to infringements of this Regulation. The Government has doubts whether appointing a specific body to be responsible for the enforcement of the Regulation would add any useful value. It will also consider during the negotiations whether there is a need to introduce penalties for infringements of the Regulation.
The Commission has stressed that bus and coach passenger’s protection is different from one Member State to another. Hence, it has proposed the draft regulation on the rights of passengers in bus and coach transport. The proposal would apply to regular bus and coach services on both domestic and international routes.
Member States may exclude domestic urban, suburban and short-distance regional bus services covered by public service contracts from the scope of the Regulation provided that the level of passenger rights enshrined in such contracts is comparable to the one set by the present Regulation. However, this exemption fails to reflect that in the UK the majority of local bus services are provided on a commercial basis therefore such exemption would be of limited use. The UK local bus services would not be able to take advantage of the proposed exemption hence the liability provisions would also apply in respect of domestic and international occasional services.
The proposal will have an impact on local bus services in Northern Ireland that run to and from the Republic of Ireland which are authorised as international bus and coach operations however the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Transport, Paul Clark, has said “many are essentially local bus services, are socially necessary and provide a vital link to those living in rural areas.”
Under the proposal, without prejudice to social tariffs provided under public service contracts, contract conditions and tariffs applied by bus and coach operators must be offered to the general public without any discrimination based on the nationality. The Government is concerned that if concessionary travel had to be provided to visitors from the EU that may entail significant cost to public finances. According to the European Commission this provision is addressed at commercial operators, and it is not intended to prevent local authorities providing social tariffs to local residents using public money. The Government will seek during the negotiations to ensure that existing concessionary schemes are not affected.
The proposal also includes a requirement for bus and coach operators to issue passengers with one or more tickets as proof of conclusion of the transport contract which would entitle passengers to the rights provided in the Regulation. This provision could have implications for the use of smart cards since if they are not considered a ticket passengers who used these cards would have no rights under the Regulation.
The Commission has proposed rules on companies’ liability for passengers and their luggage, establishing harmonised standards. Operators would be liable for loss or damage resulting from the death, personal injury or mental harm to passengers caused by an accident.
The Commission has not proposed to subject this liability to any maximum financial limit but under certain conditions the operator would not be able to contest damages up to €220,000. Where the accident was caused by circumstances unconnected with the operation of the service and which the operator could not have prevented, an operator would not be liable as well as in case of the accident being passengers fault. In case of injury or death caused by bus or coach accident, passengers would be entitled to advance payments in proportion to the harm suffered, no less than €21,000 per passenger in the event of death.
The UK would have to change its practices on liability, chiefly as regards the provisions preventing an operator from contesting damages up to €220,000 as well as the requirement on the advance payments of damages prior to liability being established. Operators, in this way, operators will face higher costs through insurance premiums. The industry believes that such provisions could have a significant impact, principally on the viability of local bus services.
The draft regulation provides that passengers with disabilities or reduced mobility may not be refused the right to board a bus or coach on the grounds of their disability or lack of mobility, except for reasons which are justified on grounds of safety and prescribed by law. It provides for special and free assistance for passengers with reduced mobility. According to the Government as regards the rights of disabled people or people with reduced mobility the UK already provides much of what is being proposed.
The proposal requires terminal managers and operators to provide passengers with adequate information regarding the service before and during the journey. The draft regulation is also aiming that, in the event of interrupted travel, all passengers are provided with assistance to make alternative travel arrangements where services are cancelled and receive compensation when services are cancelled or subject to long delays. The European Parliament has strengthened the provisions on compensation.
The proposal includes provisions requiring Member States to lay down sanctions for non-compliance and to designate bodies responsible for enforcing the regulation and for handling complaints from passengers. The Government is still considering the benefits of having a requirement for designation of a body to enforce the draft Regulation and the requirement to introduce penalties for infringements. But it has doubts whether actively enforcing and imposing penalties in respect of all aspects of the Regulation would be beneficial.
Adopting such proposal would result in better benefits for passengers of bus and coach services. However, operators would have increased costs for compensating passengers who have experienced delays or cancellation of a service. There would also be increased costs to operators from the requirement to provide information and to put in place systems to deal with complaints. The costs of compliance to operators are likely to be passed on to passengers in the form of higher fares.
On 17 December, the EU Transport Council reached a political agreement on a draft regulation on passengers’ rights in bus and coach transport.
The Regulation’s scope has been the main contentious issue. Under the Commission’s original proposal, the regulation was to be applied to regular bus and coach services on both domestic and international routes. Member States were only allowed to exclude domestic urban, suburban and short-distance regional bus services covered by public service contracts from the scope of application of the Regulation provided that the level of passenger rights enshrined in such contracts is comparable to the one set by the present Regulation. However, this exemption fails to reflect that in the UK the majority of local bus services are provided on a commercial basis therefore such exemption would be potentially discriminatory and of limited use.
The majority of the EU Member States, including the UK, consider that the scope of the proposed Regulation should be limited to national long-distance and international regular bus/coach transport services and consequently local and regional services should be excluded. However, it was not possible to find an EU definition of “long-distance” services, taking into account different geographical characteristics of Member States. Consequently, the Swedish EU Presidency has proposed that Member States would be able to exempt urban, suburban and regional transport from most of the Regulation’s provisions, but certain rights could be applied to all bus and coach services without exception.
The Government was, therefore, unable to secure an exemption to local bus services from all of the provisions of the regulation. The majority of the EU Member States supported the Swedish Presidency’s compromise proposal. Hence, it was agreed that the regulation will apply to regular services in general whereas urban, suburban and regional services may be exempted, except from the rules on non-discrimination and on the right to transport for disabled persons.
It is important to recall that the European Parliament, at first reading, voted to allow Member States to exempt urban and suburban but not regional transport services. Moreover, the European Parliament has kept the public service contract condition that the Member States have agreed to remove from the text.
The Commission has also proposed rules on companies’ liability for passengers and their luggage, establishing harmonised standards on liability. Operators would be liable for loss or damage resulting from the death, personal injury or mental harm to passengers caused by an accident. The Commission has not proposed to subject this liability to any maximum financial limit but under certain conditions the operator would not be able to contest damages up to €220,000 (£209,550). As regards larger claims, where the accident was caused by circumstances unconnected with the operation of the service and which the operator could not have prevented, an operator would not be liable as well as in case of the accident being passenger’s fault or caused by their negligence.
The industry believes that such provisions could have a significant impact, principally on the viability of local bus services. Although the Government agrees that there is some value in having harmonised liability arrangements for international services, the UK would have to change its practices on liability, chiefly as regards the provisions preventing an operator from contesting damages up to €220,000 (£209,550), unless the passenger was at fault as well as the requirement on the advance payments of damages prior to liability being established. Operators, in this way, may face higher costs through insurance premiums.
According to the Government, the introduction of strict liability would have created a separate system in relation to determining liability and compensation for road traffic accidents which would have caused uncertainty in UK law. In fact, Member States have different liability regimes which prove impossible to reconcile. Moreover, the 2009 “Motor Insurance Directive” already regulates liability for bus passengers.
The Council has therefore amended the Commission’s proposed liability provisions and it has removed from the text the provision on strict liability. The Council agreed that the issue of liability should be dealt with in accordance with national law. However the national law ceilings for compensation must not be lower than the minimum amounts established in the regulation. The Member States agreed on a minimum threshold of EUR 220 000 per passenger in case of death or personal injury, EUR 500 in case of loss of or damage to luggage, with regard to regional or sub-regional regular or occasional services, EUR 1200 with regard to regular or occasional services. Whereas, wheelchairs as well as other mobility equipment or assistive devices would be compensated in full.
Moreover, carriers would be required to provide assistance covering passengers’ immediate practical needs after an accident.
It remains to be seen what will come out from the negotiations with the European Parliament. The Council will soon adopt its first-reading position on the proposal which will be forwarded to the European Parliament for the second reading.
On 9 October, the EU Transport Council reached a political agreement on a draft regulation designed to improve the rights of passengers when travelling by sea and inland waterway proposed by the European Commission, last December.
The Council will draft its common position which will be then forwarded to European Parliament for the second reading under the co-decision procedure. It remains to be seen what will come out of the negotiations.
On 11 June, the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council held a policy debate on a draft regulation on the rights of passengers in bus and coach transport.
All the EU Member States reiterated their commitment to strengthen passenger rights travelling by bus and coach.
The majority of the EU Member States, including the UK, consider that the scope of the proposed Regulation should be limited to national long-distance and international regular bus/coach transport services and, consequently, local and regional services should be excluded.