EU Passenger Rights Reform Faces Crucial Deadline

BRUSSELS — Policymakers, consumer groups and airline lobbies have been wrangling over what protections to give passengers for over a decade. That fight could end this week.

At the heart of the dispute is whether passengers should continue receiving compensation ranging from €250 to €600 for flights delayed by at least three hours, alongside a series of new rights for travelers and obligations for airlines.

The current rules are seen by many as flawed: Passengers often don’t get the money they feel they’re owed, while airlines complain they’re being forced to cough up large amounts of cash.

But if Tuesday’s talks fail, the current system stays.

The European Commission proposed revamping the system in 2013, suggesting extending the compensation threshold to at least 5 hours as part of a broader reform package that would allow airlines to pay less while also strengthening passenger rights in other areas.

It wasn't met with much enthusiasm.

“We were accused from any side,” said Siim Kallas, the former transport commissioner who proposed the original reform in 2013. “Some people considered that this was too pro-airlines … others that it was not good for airlines.”

After making little progress for over a decade, the reform effort gained new urgency last year, when countries narrowly reached a common position. They also moved to compress the negotiation period and set a deadline by which a deal must be reached to avoid the reform collapsing. But that sparked a conflict with Parliament.

The countries' position increases the minimum delay thresholds at which airlines must pay compensation to passengers from the current three hours to four hours for flights of up to 3,500 kilometers or within the EU, and to six hours for flights beyond that.

The new text imposes an obligation on airlines to provide an automatic form for claiming compensation for canceled flights, which would make it more likely that they file claims.

“Only 38 percent of eligible passengers receive compensation,” according to a joint letter from consumer campaigners, citing a Commission study. “A majority of travelers do not even complain,” they added, mentioning “low awareness and burdensome procedures” as key obstacles preventing passengers from exercising their rights.

However, airlines worry that more filed claims will increase their costs.

EU countries said the reform strikes "a better balance between a high level of protection for passengers and preserving connectivity and a level playing field for the aviation sector."

Parliamentarians responded by backing their own reform proposal — which made the protection of current rights a red line.

MEPs want to keep the existing three-hour delay threshold for compensation, agree on the automatic claim form, and also want passengers to be able to bring larger carry-on bags onto flights for free, in addition to small under-seat bags. Discount airlines say that they will upend their business model and increase ticket prices.

After years of calling for reform, airlines are now afraid of their potential outcome. They first asked policymakers to stop negotiating and run an impact assessment, and in recent weeks, they stressed that no deal is better than a bad deal.

Current regulation “already adds about €8 extra to the ticket of every passenger,” said the three leading airline lobbies. “The compromise on the table today will drive up costs by around a third without actually addressing the real reasons for most delays,” they added, referring to a draft deal reported by POLITICO.

Consumer organizations and claims agencies, which take a cut of successful compensation claims, have also been fighting any reform proposal they believe would weaken current rights.

Despite the gap between the two sides, they have little time to reach a deal under the so-called conciliation process. Under that, each side gets an equal number of negotiators and a six-week deadline (extendable by two weeks) to reach an agreement. If that doesn't happen, the legislative process is deemed a failure.

The formal deadline for the process is June 15, but due to technical issues related to the legal translation of the text, people involved in the negotiations told POLITICO that Tuesday is the real deadline to reach a deal.