COMMON POSITION (EC) No 55/98 adopted by the Council on 24 September 1998 with a view to adopting Regulation (EC) No .../98 amending Regulation (EEC) No 2299/89 on a code of conduct for computer reservation systems (CRSs)
Date: 1998-09-24
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: air transport, code of conduct, consumer protection, information system, reservation, ticket

23.11.98

EN

Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

C 360/69

COMMON  POSITION  (EC)  No  55/98

adopted  by  the  Council  on  24  September  1998

with  a  view  to  adopting  Regulation  (EC)  No  . . ./98  amending  Regulation  (EEC)  No  2299/89
on  a  code  of  conduct  for  computer  reservation  systems  (CRSs)

(98/C 360/02)

THE  COUNCIL  OF  THE  EUROPEAN  UNION,

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European
in  particular  Article  75  and
Community,  and 
Article  84(2)  thereof,

Having  regard  to  the  proposal  from  the  Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee (1),

Acting  in  accordance  with  the  procedure  laid  down  in
Article  189c  of  the  Treaty (2),

(1) Whereas  Regulation  (EEC)  No  2299/89 (3)  has
made  a  major  contribution  to  ensuring  fair  and
unbiased  conditions  for  air  carriers  in  computer
reservation systems, thereby protecting the interests
of  consumers;

(2) Whereas  it  is  necessary  to  extend  the  scope  of
Regulation  (EEC)  No  2299/89  and  to  clarify  its
provisions  and  it  is  appropriate  to  take  these
measures  at  Community  level  to  ensure  that  the
objectives of the Regulation  are met  in all Member
States;

(3) Whereas this Regulation is without prejudice to the
application  of  Articles  85  and  86  of  the  Treaty;

(4) Whereas this Regulation is without prejudice to the
application  of  Directive  95/46/EC  of  the  European
Parlament  and  of  the  Council  of  24  October  1995
on  the  protection  of  individuals  with  regard  to  the
processing  of  personal  data  and  on  the  free
movement  of  such  data (4);

(1) OJ  C  95,  30.3.1998,  p.  27.
(2) Opinion  of  the  European  Parliament  of  15  May  1998  (OJ
C  167,  1.6.1998,  p.  297),  Council  Common  Position  of
24 September 1998 and Decision of the European Parliament
of  . . .  (not  yet  published  in  the  Official  Journal).

(3) OJ  L  220,  29.7.1989,  p.  1.  Regulation  as  amended  by
Regulation  (EEC)  No  3089/93  (OJ  L  278,  11.11.1993,
p.  1).

(4) OJ  L  281,  23.11.1995,  p.  31.

(5) Whereas  Commission  Regulation 

(EC)  No
3652/93 (5)  exempts  agreements  for  the  common
of
purchase, 
the
computerised 
provisions  of  Article  85(1)  of  the  Treaty;

operation 
from 

and 
systems 

development 

reservation 

(6) Whereas it is desirable to clarify the basis on which
parent carriers should be charged for bookings they
are  required  to  accept  from  competing  CRSs;

(7) Whereas it is necessary to clarify the basis on which
CRSs  charge  for  the  services  they  provide  for
participating  carriers  and  subscribers,  in  particular
as  regards  incentives  and  in  order  to  improve
transparency;

(8) Whereas  it  is  necessary  to  ensure  that  third  parties
carrying out services on behalf of a CRS are subject
to the same obligations as the code imposes on that
CRS;

(9) Whereas  the  code’s  CRS  audit  requirements  should
also  be  used  to  check  data-protection  requirements
arising  out  of  Directive  95/46/EC;

(10) Whereas it is necessary to specify the obligations of
subscribers  under  the  code  so  that  the  reservation
services  they  provide  for  their  customers  are  not
inaccurate,  misleading  or  discriminatory;

(11) Whereas  express  provision  ought  to  be  made  for  a
defendant’s  right  to  be  heard  on  matters  to  which
the  Commission  takes  objection;

(12) Whereas  the  integration  of  rail  services  into  the
CRS  principal  display  can  improve  the  quality  of
information  available  to  consumers  and  provide
consumers  with  the  best  options  for  their  travel
arrangements;

(5) OJ L 333, 31.12.1993, p. 37. Regulation as amended by the

Act  of  Accession  of  1994.

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23.11.98

(13) Whereas 

rail  operators  distributing 

certain
well-defined categories of their services through the
principal  displays  of  CRSs  should  be  subject  to
conditions  comparable  to  those  imposed  on  air
carriers;

(14) Whereas 

facilities
information  or  distribution 
offered  by  a  carrier  or  a  group  of  air  carriers
should  not  be  subject  to  certain  code  provisions
provided  that  such  arrangements  are  clearly  and
continuously  identified,

HAS  ADOPTED  THIS  REGULATION:

Article  1

Regulation  (EEC)  No  2299/89  is  hereby  amended  as
follows:

(b) paragraph 
following:

(m)  shall  be  replaced  by 

the

‘(m) “consumer” shall mean any person seeking
information about or intending to purchase
an  air-transport  product  for  private  use;’

(c)

the  following  paragraphs  shall  be  added:

‘(q) “unbundled  rail-transport  product”  shall
mean  the  carriage  of  a  passenger  between
two  stations  by  rail,  including  any  related
ancillary  services  and  additional  benefits
offered  for  sale  or  sold  as  an  integral  part
of  that  product;

(r) “bundled 

rail-transport  product” 

shall
mean  a  pre-arranged  combination  of  an
rail-transport  product  with
unbundled 
other 
rail
services  not  ancillary 
transport,  offered  for  sale  or  sold  at  an
inclusive price;

to 

1. Article  1  shall  be  replaced  by  the  following:

‘Article  1

(s) “rail-transport  product”  shall  mean  both
rail-transport

unbundled  and  bundled 
products;

This  Regulation  shall  apply  to  any  computerised
it  contains
in  so 
reservation  system, 
air-transport products and in so far as rail-transport
products  are  incorporated  in  its  principal  display,
when  offered  for  use  or  used  in  the  territory  of  the
Community,  irrespective  of:

far  as 

— the  status  or  nationality  of  the  system  vendor,

— the  source  of  the 

information  used  or  the
location  of  the  relevant  central  data  processing
unit,

— the geographical location of the airports between

which  air  carriage  takes  place.’;

(t) “ticket”  shall  mean  a  valid  document
giving  entitlement  to  transport  or  an
equivalent 
including
electronic, form issued or authorised by the
carrier  or  its  authorised  agent;

paperless, 

in 

(u) “duplicate 

reservation” 

shall  mean  a
situation  which  arises  when  two  or  more
same
reservations  are  made 
passenger  when 
is  evident  that  the
passenger will not be able to use more than
one.’;

the 

for 

it 

2. Article  2  shall  be  amended  as  follows:

3. Article  3a  shall  be  amended  as  follows:

(a) paragraph 
following:

(l) 

shall  be 

replaced  by 

the

(a) paragraph  1(b)  shall  be  replaced  by 

the

following:

‘(l) “subscriber”  shall  mean  a  person,  other
than  a  consumer,  or  an  undertaking,
other  than  a  participating  carrier,  using  a
CRS  under  contract  or  other  financial
arrangement  with  a  system  vendor.  A
financial  arrangement  shall  be  deemed  to
exist  where  a  specific  payment  is  made  for
the  services  of  the  system  vendor  or  where
an  air-transport  product  is  purchased;’

‘(b) The  parent  carrier  shall  not  be  obliged  to
accept  any  costs  in  this  connection  except
for  reproduction  of  the  information  to  be
provided  and  for  accepted  bookings.  The
booking  fee  payable  to  a  CRS  for  an
accepted booking made in accordance with
this Article shall not exceed the fee charged
by  the  same  CRS  to  participating  carriers
for  an  equivalent  transaction;’

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(b) paragraph  2 
following:

shall  be 

replaced  by 

the

both  globally  and  selectively  with  regard
to  the  market  in  which  they  operate;

‘2.
The  obligation  imposed  by  this  Article
shall  not  apply  in  favour  of  a  competing  CRS
when,  in  accordance  with  the  procedures  of
Article  11,  it  has  been  decided  that  that  CRS  is
in  breach  of  Article  4a  or  of  Article  6
concerning  parent  carriers’  unauthorised  access
to  information.’;

4.

in  Article  4(1)  the  following  subparagraph  shall  be
added:

‘The  principles  stated 
in  the  first  and  second
subparagraphs  shall  apply  to  rail  services  in  respect
of  data  provided  for  inclusion  in  the  principal
display.’;

(v) a  group  of  airlines  and/or  subscribers  is
entitled  to  purchase  data  for  common
processing.’;

8. paragraphs  (4)  and  (5)  of  Article  6  shall  be

deleted;

9.

the  following  Article  shall  be  inserted:

‘Article  9a

5.

in  Article  4a  the  following  paragraph  shall  be
added:

1. (a)

‘4.
The  system  vendor  shall  ensure  that  any  third
parties  providing  CRS  services  in  whole  or  in  part
on  its  behalf  comply  with  the  relevant  provisions  of
this Regulation.’;

6. Article  6(1)(a)  shall  be  replaced  by  the  following:

‘(a)

information  concerning  identifiable  individual
bookings  shall  be  provided  on  an  equal  basis
and  only 
the  air  carrier  or  carriers
participating  in  the  service  covered  by  and  to
the  subscribers  involved  in  the  booking.

to 

concerning 

identifiable 

Information  under  the  control  of  the  system
vendor 
individual
bookings  shall  be  archived  off-line  within  72
hours  of  the  completion  of  the  last  element  in
the  individual  booking  and  destroyed  within
three  years.  Access  to  such  data  shall  be
allowed  only  for  billing-dispute  reasons.’;

7. Article  6(1)(b)  shall  be  amended  as  follows:

(a) point  (ii)  shall  be  replaced  by  the  following:

‘(ii)

participating 

such data may and, on request, shall cover
and/or
all 
subscribers, 
no
identification,  either  directly  or  indirectly,
of, or personal information on a passenger
or  a  corporate  user;’

carriers 

include 

shall 

but 

In  the  case  of  information  provided  by  a
CRS,  a  subscriber  shall  use  a  neutral  display
in  accordance  with  Article  5(2)(a)  and  (b)
unless  another  display  is  required  to  meet  a
preference  indicated  by  a  consumer.

(b) No  subscriber  shall  manipulate  information
provided  by  a  CRS  in  a  manner  that  leads
to  inaccurate,  misleading  or  discriminatory
information  to  any
presentation  of  that 
consumer.

(c) A  subscriber  shall  make  reservations  and
the
issue 
information  contained  in  the  CRS  used,
or  as  authorised  by  the  carrier  concerned.

in  accordance  with 

tickets 

(d) A  subscriber  shall  inform  each  consumer  of
any  en  route  changes  of  equipment,  the
number  of  scheduled  en  route  stops,  the
identity  of  the  air  carrier  actually  operating
the  flight,  and  of  any  changes  of  airport
required  in  any  itinerary  provided,  to  the
extent  that  that  information  is  present  in
the  CRS.  The  subscriber  shall  inform  the
consumer  of  the  name  and  address  of
the  system  vendor,  the  purposes  of  the
processing,  the  duration  of  the  retention  of
individual  data  and  the  means  available  to
the  data  subject  of  exercising  his  access
rights.

(b)

the  following  points  shall  be  added:

‘(iv)

information  is  made  available  on  request
to  participating  carriers  and  subscribers

(e) A  consumer  shall  be  entitled  at  any  time  to
have  a  print-out  of  the  CRS  display  or  to
be  given  access  to  a  parallel  CRS  display
reflecting the image that is being displayed to
the  subscriber.

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(f) A  person  shall  be  entitled  to  have  effective
access  free  of  charge  to  his  own  data
regardless  of  whether  the  data  is  stored  by
the  CRS  or  by  the  subscriber.

chosen  by  the  carrier  shall  not  exceed  the
cost  of  the  medium  itself  together  with  its
transportation  costs.

A subscriber shall use the distribution facilities

2.
of  a  CRS  in  accordance  with  Annex  II.’;

10. Article  10,  paragraphs  1  and  2  shall  be  replaced  by

the  following:

‘1. (a) Any fee charged to a participating carrier by
a system vendor shall be non-discriminatory,
reasonably 
reasonably
related  to  the  cost  of  the  service  provided
and  used  and  shall,  in  particular,  be  the
same  for  the  same  level  of  service.

structured 

and 

to  allow 

sufficiently  detailed 

The  billing  for  the  services  of  a  CRS  shall
be 
the
participating  carriers  to  see  exactly  which
services  have  been  used  and 
fees
therefore;  as  a  minimum,  booking  fee  bills
shall  include  the  following  information  for
each  segment:

the 

— type  of  CRS  booking,

— passenger  name,

— country,

— IATA/ARC  agency  identification  code,

— city-code,

— city  pair  of  segment,

— booking  date  (transaction  date),

— flight  date,

— flight  number,

— status  code  (booking  status),

— service  type  (class  of  service),

— passenger  name  record  (PNR)  locator

and

— booking/cancellation indicator.

A  participating  air  carrier  shall  be  offered
the  facility  of  being  informed  when  any
booking  or  transaction  is  made  for  which  a
booking fee will be charged. Where a carrier
elects  to  be  so  informed,  it  shall  be  offered
the  option  of  disallowing  any  such  booking
or  transaction,  unless  the  latter  has  already
been  accepted.  In  the  event  of  such  a
disallowance,  the  air  carrier  shall  not  be
charged  for  that  booking  or  transaction.

be 

for 

the 

and 

shall 

level  of 

structured 

(b) Any  fee  for  equipment  rental  or  other
service  charged  to  a  subscriber  by  a  system
non-discriminatory,
vendor 
reasonably 
reasonably
related  to  the  cost  of  the  service  provided
and  used  and  shall,  in  particular,  be  the
service.
same 
same 
Productivity benefits awarded to subscribers
by  system  vendors  in  the  form  of  discount
on  rental  charges  or  commission  payments
shall  be  deemed  to  be  distribution  costs  of
the  system  vendors  and  shall  be  based  on
ticketed 
to
paragraph  5  of  Annex  II  the  system  vendor
does  not  know  whether  a  ticket  has  been
issued  or  not,  then  that  system  vendor  shall
be  entitled  to  rely  upon  notification  of  the
ticket  number  from  the  subscriber.

segments.  When, 

subject 

The billing for the services of a CRS shall be
sufficiently  detailed  to  allow  subscribers  to
see  exactly  which  services  have  been  used
and  what  fees  have  been  charged  therefore.

2.
A  system  vendor  shall,  on  request,  provide
interested  parties,  including  consumers,  with  details
of  current  procedures,  fees  and  system  facilities,
including  interfaces,  editing  and  display  criteria
used.  For  consumers  that  information  shall  be  free
of  charge  and  cover  the  processing  of  individual
data.  This  provision  shall  not,  however,  require  a
system  vendor  to  disclose  proprietary  information
such  as  software.’;

11. Article  19(1)  shall  be  replaced  by  the  following:

The  billing  information  shall  be  offered  on
magnetic  media.  The  fee  to  be  charged  for
the billing information provided in the form

‘1.
Before  taking  decisions  pursuant  to  Article  11
or  16,  the  Commission  shall  give  the  undertakings
the
or  associations  of  undertakings  concerned 

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opportunity  of  being  heard  on  the  matters  to  which
the  Commission  takes  or  has  taken  objection.’;

choose  to  include  certain  well-defined  categories  of
rail services, while respecting the principles stated in
Article  3(2).

12. Article  21  shall  be  replaced  by  the  following:

‘Article  21

1. Neither Article 5, Article 9(5) nor the Annexes
shall  apply  to  a  CRS  used  by  an  air  carrier  or  a
group  of  air  carriers:

(a)

in  its  or  their  own  office  or  offices  and  sales
counters  clearly  identified  as  such,  or

A rail-transport operator shall be deemed to be
4.
a  participating  or  parent  carrier,  as  appropriate,  for
the  purposes  of  the  code,  in  so  far  as  it  has  an
agreement with a system vendor for the distribution
of  its  products  through  the  principal  display  of  a
CRS  or  its  own  reservation  system  is  a  CRS  as
defined in Article 2(f). Subject to paragraph 5, those
products  shall  be  treated  as  air-transport  products
and shall be incorporated in the principal display in
accordance  with  the  criteria  set  out  in  Annex  I.

(b)

accessible 

to  provide 
facilities 
telecommunications 
continuously 
provider  or  providers  as  such.

information  and/or  distribution
public
and
information

a 
clearly 

identifying 

network, 

through 

the 

2. Where booking is performed directly by an air
carrier, 
to
Article  9a(d)  and  (f).’;

that  air  carrier  shall  be  subject 

13. Article  21a(1)  shall  be  replaced  by  the  following:

The  system  vendor  shall  ensure  that  the
‘1.
technical  compliance  of  its  CRS  with  Article  4a  and
Article 6 is monitored by an independent auditor on
a  calendar  year  basis.  For  that  purpose,  the  auditor
shall be granted access at all times to any programs,
procedures,  operations  and  safeguards  used  on  the
computers  or  computer  systems  through  which  the
system  vendor  provides  its  distribution  facilities.
Each system vendor  shall  submit  its  auditor’s  report
on  his  inspection  and  findings  to  the  Commission
within  four  months  of  the  end  of  the  calendar  year
under  review.  The  Commission  shall  examine  those
reports with a view to taking any action necessary in
accordance  with  Article  11(1).’;

14.

the  following  Article  shall  be  added:

‘Article  21b

5. (a) When  applying  the  rules 

laid  down 

in
paragraphs  1  and  2  of  Annex  I  to  rail
services  the  system  vendor  shall  adjust  the
ranking  principles  for  the  principal  display
in  order  to  take  due  account  of  the  needs
of  consumers  to  be  adequately  informed  of
rail  services  that  represent  a  competitive
alternative  to  the  air  services.  In  particular,
system vendors may rank rail services with a
limited  number  of  short  stops  with  non-stop
direct  air  services.

(b) System  vendors  shall  define  clear  criteria  for
the application of this Article to rail services.
Such criteria shall cover elapsed journey time
and reflect the need to avoid excessive screen
padding.  At  least  two  months  before  their
application  those  criteria  shall  be  submitted
to  the  Commission  for  information.

6.
For  the  purposes  of  this  Article,  all  references
to  “flights”  in  this  Regulation  shall  be  deemed  to
include references to “rail services” and references to
“air-transport  products”  shall  be  deemed  to  include
references  to  “rail  products”.

7.
Particular  attention  shall  be  given  to  an
assessment  of  the  application  of  this  Article  in  the
Commission’s  report  under  Article  23(1).’;

Subject  to  this  Article,  this  Regulation  shall

1.
apply  to  the  inclusion  of  rail-transport  products.

A  system  vendor  may  decide  to  include  rail

2.
services  in  the  principal  display  of  its  CRS.

15. Article  22(1)  shall  be  replaced  by  the  following:

‘1.
This  Regulation  shall  be  without  prejudice
to  national  legislation  on  security,  public-order  and
data-protection measures taken in implementation of
Directive  95/46/EC (*).

3. Where  a  system  vendor  decides  to  include  rail
products  in  the  principal  display  of  its  CRS,  it  shall

(*) OJ  L  281,  23.11.1995,  p.  31.’;

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16. Article  23  shall  be  replaced  by  the  following:

17.

the  Annex  shall  be  replaced  by  Annexes  I  and  II  set
out  in  the  Annex  hereto.

‘Article  23

Within  two  years  of  the  entry  into  force  of  this
Regulation,  the  Commission  shall  draw  up  a  report
on  the  application  of  this  Regulation  which  shall,
inter  alia,  take  account  of  economic  developments
in  the  relevant  market.  That  report  may  be
accompanied  by  proposals  for  the  revision  of  this
Regulation.’;

This  Regulation  shall  enter  into  force  on  the  30th  day
following  its  publication  in  the  Official  Journal  of  the
European  Communities  with  the  exception  of  the  new
Article  10(1)(b)  of  Regulation  (EEC)  No  2299/89,  which
shall  enter  into  force  six  months  after  the  publication  of
this  Regulation.

Article  2

This  Regulation  shall  be  binding  in  its  entirety  and  directly  applicable  in  all  Member  States.

Done  at  . . .

For  the  Council

The  President

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ANNEX

‘ANNEX  I

Principal  display  ranking  criteria  for  flights (1)  offering  unbundled  air  transport  products

1. Ranking of flight options in a principal display, for the day or days requested, must be in the following

order  unless  requested  in  a  different  way  by  a  consumer  for  an  individual  transaction:

(i) all  non-stop  direct  flights  between  the  city-pairs  concerned;

(ii) all  other  direct  flights,  not  involving  a  change  of  aircraft  or  train,  between  the  city-pairs

concerned;

(iii) connecting  flights.

2. A  consumer  must  at  least  be  afforded  the  possibility  of  having,  on  request,  a  principal  display  ranked
by departure or arrival time and/or elapsed journey time. Unless otherwise requested by a consumer, a
principal  display  must  be  ranked  by  departure  time  for  group  (i)  and  elapsed  journey  time  for  groups
(ii)  and  (iii).

3. Where a system vendor chooses to display information for any city-pair in relation to the schedules or
fares  of  non-participating  carriers,  but  not  necessarily  all  such  carriers,  such  information  must  be
displayed  in  an  accurate,  non-misleading  and  non-discriminatory  manner  between  carriers  displayed.

4.

If,  to  the  system  vendor’s  knowledge,  information  on  the  number  of  direct  scheduled  air  services  and
the  identity  of  the  air  carriers  concerned  is  not  comprehensive,  that  must  be  clearly  stated  on  the
relevant display.

5. Flights  other  than  scheduled  air  services  must  be  clearly  identified.

6. Flights  involving  stops  en  route  must  be  clearly  identified.

7. Where  flights  are  operated  by  an  air  carrier  which  is  not  the  air  carrier  identified  by  the  carrier
designator code, the actual operator of the flight must be clearly identified. That requirement will apply
in  all  cases,  except  for  short-term  ad  hoc  arrangements.

8. A system vendor must not use the screen space in a principal display in a manner which gives excessive

exposure  to  one  particular  travel  option  or  which  displays  unrealistic  travel  options.

9. Except  as  provided  in  paragraph  10,  the  following  will  apply:

(a)

for  direct  services,  no  flight  may  be  featured  more  than  once  in  any  principal  display;

(b)

for multi-sector services involving a change of aircraft, no combination of flights may be featured
more  than  once  in  any  principal  display;

(c)

flights involving a change of aircraft must be treated and displayed as connecting flights, with one
line  per  aircraft  segment.

Nevertheless, where the flights are operated by the same carrier with the same flight number and where
a carrier requires only one flight coupon and one reservation, a CRS should issue only one coupon and
should  charge  for  only  one  reservation.

10. 1. Where participating carriers have joint venture or other contractual arrangements requiring two or
more of them to assume separate responsibility for the offer and sale of air-transport products on a
flight or combination of flights, the terms “flight” (for direct services) and “combination of flights”
(for multi-sector services) used in paragraph 9 must be interpreted as allowing each of the carriers
concerned  —  not  more  than  two  —  to  have  a  separate  display  using  its  individual  carrier-
designator  code.

(1) All  references  to  “flights”  in  this  Annex  are  in  accordance  with  Article  21b(6).

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2. Where  more  than  two  carriers  are  involved,  designation  of  the  two  carriers  entitled  to  avail
themselves  of  the  exception  provided  for  in  subparagraph  1  must  be  a  matter  for  the  carrier
actually  operating  the  flight.  In  the  absence  of  information  from  the  operating  carrier  sufficient  to
identify  the  two  carriers  to  be  designated,  a  system  vendor  must  designate  the  carriers  on  a
non-discriminatory  basis.

11. A  principal  display  must,  wherever  practicable,  include  connecting  flights  on  scheduled  services  which
are  operated  by  participating  carriers  and  are  constructed  by  using  a  minimum  number  of  nine
connecting  points.  A  system  vendor  must  accept  a  request  by  a  participating  carrier  to  include  an
indirect  service,  unless  the  routing  is  in  excess  of  130 %  of  the  great  circle  distance  between  the  two
airports  or  unless  that  would  lead  to  the  exclusion  of  services  with  a  shorter  elapsed  journey  time.
Connecting  points  with  routings  in  excess  of  130 %  of  that  great  circle  distance  need  not  be  used.

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ANNEX  II

Use  of  distribution  facilities  by  subscribers

1. A subscriber must keep accurate records covering all CRS reservation transactions. Those records must
include  flight  numbers,  reservations  booking  designators,  date  of  travel,  departure  and  arrival  times,
status  of  segments,  names  and  initials  of  passengers  with  their  contact  addresses  and/or  telephone
numbers  and  ticketing  status.  When  booking  or  cancelling  space,  the  subscriber  must  ensure  that  the
reservation  designator  being  used  corresponds  to  the  fare  paid  by  the  passenger.

2. A  subscriber  should  not  deliberately  make  duplicate  reservations  for  the  same  passenger.  Where
confirmed space is not available on the customer’s choice, the passenger may be wait-listed on that flight
(if  a  wait-list  is  available)  and  confirmed  on  an  alternative  flight.

3. When  a  passenger  cancels  a  reservation,  the  subscriber  must  immediately  release  that  space.

4. When  a  passenger  changes  an  itinerary,  the  subscriber  must  ensure  that  all  space  and  supplementary

services  are  cancelled  when  the  new  reservations  are  made.

5. A  subscriber  must,  where  practicable,  request  or  process  all  reservations  for  a  specific  itinerary  and  all

subsequent  changes  through  the  same  CRS.

6. No  subscriber  may  request  or  sell  airline  space  unless  requested  to  do  so  by  a  consumer.

7. A  subscriber  must  ensure  that  a  ticket  is  issued  in  accordance  with  the  reservation  status  of  each
segment and in accordance with the applicable time limit. A subscriber must not issue a ticket indicating
a  definite  reservation  and  a  particular  flight  unless  confirmation  of  that  reservation  has  been
received.’

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STATEMENT  OF  THE  COUNCIL’S  REASONS

I.

INTRODUCTION

On  10  July  1997,  the  Commission  submitted  to  the  Council  a  proposal  for  a  Council
Regulation (EC) No . . . amending Regulation (EEC) No 2299/89 on a code of conduct for
computerised  reservation  systems  (CRSs) (1).

The  European  Parliament  delivered  its  opinion  at  first  reading  on  15  May  1998 (2).  The
Economic  and  Social  Committee  delivered  its  opinion  on  28  January  1998 (3).

The  Commission  amended  its  proposal  in  the  light  of  these  opinions  and  transmitted  it  to
the  Council  on  16  June  1998 (4).

The Council adopted its common position in accordance with Article 189c of the Treaty on
24  September  1998.

II. PURPOSE  OF  THE  PROPOSAL

This  proposal  aims  at  extending  the  scope  of  Regulation  (EEC)  No  2299/89  and  clarifying
its  provisions  so  as  to

— enable  an  integration  of  rail  services  into  a  CRS  display  of  air  transport  services  and
ensure that rail operators distributing services through this CRS are subject to the same
conditions  as  air  carriers,

— bring into the scope of the code, systems providing information directly to the consumer

by  electronic  means,

— clarify  the  basis  on  which  parent  carriers  should  be  charged  for  bookings  they  are

required  to  accept  from  competing  CRSs,

— clarify  the  basis  on  which  CRSs  charge  for  the  services  they  provide  to  participating

carriers  and  subscribers,

— ensure that third parties carrying out services on behalf of a CRS are subject to the same

obligations  the  code  imposes  on  that  CRS.

III. ANALYSIS  OF  THE  COMMON  POSITION

The common position adopted by the Council corresponds largely to the amended proposal
submitted by the Commission and takes on board most of the amendments adopted by the
European  Parliament  (see  Section  IV).  Some  adjustments  were  introduced  by  the  Council
(see Sections V and VI) with a view to clarifying the application of the code in particular as
regards  the  basis  on  which  CRSs  charge  for  the  services  they  provide,  the  definition  of
financial  arrangement  and  the  provision  of  information  concerning  individual  bookings  in
accordance  with  Community  data  protection  legislation.

(1) OJ  C  267,  3.9.1997,  p.  67.
(2) Doc.  8458/98  PE-RE  36  ADD  1.
(3) OJ  C  95,  30.3.1998,  p.  27.
(4) OJ  C  240,  31.7.1998,  p.  17.

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Recitals

The  recitals  were  redrafted  in  order  to  make  them  consistent  with  the  amendments
introduced  in  the  articles.  The  new  text  of  the  recitals  corresponds  in  substance  to  the
Commission’s  amended  proposal  except  for  the  following  changes:

— deletion  of  the  recital  relating  to  providing  information  directly  to  the  consumer  by

electronic  means  (former  recital  6),

— addition  to  the  recital  relating  to  clarifying  the  basis  on  which  CRSs  charge  for
the  services  they  provide,  as  follows:  ‘. . .,  in  particular  as  regards  incentives  and  in
order  . . .’  (recital  7),

— deletion  of  the  word  ‘effectiveness’  in  recital  9,

— addition  to  the  recital  on  non-discrimination  obligation  as  follows  (recital  10):  ‘. . .,  to

specify  the  obligations  of  subscribers  under  . . .’,

— deletion of wording ‘of  air  transport services’ and replacing last wording of sentence in
recital  12  ‘and  provide  consumers  with  best  options  for  their  travel  arrangements’,

— addition  to  recital  13  ‘certain  well-defined  categories’  and  replacing  ‘same’  by

‘comparable’ conditions,

— addition  to  recital  14  of  wording  ‘or  a  group  of  air  carriers’  and  adding  the  word

‘certain’,

— deletion  of  former  recital  15  on  the  ranking  criteria.

IV. AMENDMENTS  BY  THE  EUROPEAN  PARLIAMENT

1. Amendments  by  the  Parliament,  wholly  or  partly  accepted  by  the  Council  and  the

Commission

(i) The  following  amendments  were  accepted  in  their  entirety:

— Amendment  1  (concerning  recital  15),

— Amendment  2  (Article  1,  Introduction),

— Amendment  5  (Article  1(3)(a)),

— Amendment  6  (Article  1(3)(a)  (new)),

— Amendment  7  (Article  1(4)(a)  (new)),

— Amendment  8  (Article  1(7)(b),  1st  subparagraph),

— Amendment  9  (Article  1(9)),

— Amendment  10  (Article  1(11)),

— Amendment  12  (Annex  II(2)),

— Amendment  14  (Annex  I(10)(2)).

(ii) The  following  amendments  were  accepted  in  substance,  whilst  using  a  slightly

different  wording  and/or  presentation:

— A m e n d m e n t   8   ( A r t i c l e   1 0 ( 1 ) ( a ) ,   e n d   o f   4 t h   s u b p a r a g r a p h )

The  Council  accepted  the  idea  that  a  participating  carrier  must  not  be  charged
for  a  transaction  or  booking  for  which  a  booking  fee  will  be  charged  and  it
changed  the  wording  to  the  following:

‘In the event of such a disallowance, the air carrier shall not be charged for that
booking  or  transaction.’

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2. Amendments  by  the  Parliament,  accepted  by  the  Commission,  but  not  accepted  by  the

Council

— A m e n d m e n t   3   ( A r t i c l e   1 ( 2 ) ( a ) ( I ) )

The  Council  preferred  the  original  text  proposed  by  the  Commission,  whilst  adding
a  definition  on  financial  arrangement  (see  VI,  p.  8).

— A m e n d m e n t   4   ( A r t i c l e   1 ( 2 ) ( c ) )

The  Council  decided  to  delete  the  definition  of  rail  transport  operator  ((q)  in  the
Commission’s  proposal)  which  is  already  laid  down  in  Directive  91/440/EEC  of
29  July  1991  on  the  development  of  the  Community’s  railways (1).

— A m e n d m e n t   8   ( A r t i c l e   1 ( 7 ) ) ,   3 r d   s u b p a r a g r a p h )

The  Council  considered  that  the  original  proposal  of  the  Commission  was  more
precise  as  regards  billing  the  costs  for  information  on  magnetic  media.

— A m e n d m e n t   1 1   ( A n n e x I ( 1 ) )

The  Council  preferred  to  maintain  the  categories  existing  in  the  incumbent
Regulation  which  allow  the  provision  of  more  information  to  the  passenger  on  the
available  choices,  in  particular,  in  case  of  change  of  aircraft.

— A m e n d m e n t   1 3   ( A n n e x   I ( 9 ) ,   2 n d   s u b p a r a g r a p h )

The Council could not accept the amendment by the Parliament since it maintained
the  text  of  the  proposal  by  the  Commission  in  order  to  prevent  unnecessary
bookings  and  extra  charges  for  the  airlines.

V. AMENDMENTS  BY  THE  COUNCIL,  NOT  PROPOSED  BY  THE  PARLIAMENT

— A r t i c l e   2 ( b )

The  Council  added  to  the  definition  of  consumer  the  expression  ‘for  private  use’  in
order  to  make  that  definition  more  precise.

— A r t i c l e   6 ( 1 ) ( a )

The  Council  agreed  to  add  the  following  indent:

— Information  under  the  control  of  the  system  vendor  concerning  identifiable
individual  bookings  shall  be  archived  off-line  within  72  hours  of  the  completion  of
the  last  element  in  the  individual  booking  and  destroyed  within  three  years.  Access
to  such  data  shall  be  allowed  only  for  billing-dispute  reasons.’

This  addition  clarifies  the  time  limits  for  the  storing  of  information  and  the  access  to
such  information.

— A r t i c l e   9 a ( 1 ) ( d ) ,   2 n d   s e n t e n c e

The  Council  agreed  to  add  the  following  sentence:

‘(d)

. . .

The  subscriber  shall  inform  the  consumer  of  the  name  and  address  of  the  system
vendor,  the  purposes  of  the  processing,  the  duration  of  the  retention  of  individual
data  and  the  means  available  to  the  data  subject  of  exercising  his  access  rights.’

(1) OJ  L  237,  24.8.1991,  p.  25.

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This  addition  was  necessary  in  view  of  Community  data  protection  legislation.

— A r t i c l e   9 a ( 1 ) ( b )

The  Council,  for  the  same  reasons  indicated  above  concerning  the  previous  provision,
agreed  to  add  the  following  paragraph:

‘(f) A  person  shall  be  entitled  to  have  effective  access  free  of  charge  to  his  own  data

regardless  of  whether  the  data  is  stored  by  the  CRS  or  by  the  subscriber.’

— A r t i c l e   2 3

The  Council  agreed  to  improve  the  text  of  Article  23,  which  reads  as  follows:

‘Article  23

Within two years of the entry into force of this Regulation, the Commission shall draw
up a report on the application of this Regulation which shall, inter alia, take account of
economic  developments  in  the  relevant  market.  That  report  may  be  accompanied  by
proposals  for  the  revision  of  this  Regulation.’

— A r t i c l e   2

The  Council  agreed  on  the  following  Article  2  on  the  entering  into  force  of  the
Regulation:

‘Article  2

This  Regulation  shall  enter  into  force  on  the  30th  day  following  its  publication  in  the
Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities  with  the  exception  of  the  new
Article  10(1)(b)  of  Regulation  (EEC)  No  2299/89,  which  shall  enter  into  force  six
months  after  the  publication  of  this  Regulation.’

In  fact,  Article  10(1)(b)  on  billing  of  services  of  a  CRS  requires  a  longer  period  for
implementation.

— A n n e x   I I ( 2 )

The  Council  agreed  to 
reservations,  for  reasons  of  clarity.

insert  the  word 

‘deliberately’  when  defining  duplicate

VI. AMENDMENTS  BY  THE  COUNCIL,  NOT  PROPOSED  BY  THE  COMMISSION  AND/OR  THE

PARLIAMENT

— A r t i c l e   2 ( a ) ( I )

The  Council  added  in  the  definition  of  ‘subscriber’  the  following  definition  of  financial
arrangement,  since  this  expression  requires  clarification:

‘A financial arrangement shall be deemed to exist where a specific payment is made for
the  services  of  the  system  vendor  or  where  an  air-transport  product  is  purchased.’

The  Council  agreed  to  insert  the  following  new  definitions:

‘(t) “ticket”  shall  mean  a  valid  document  giving  entitlement  to  transport  or  an
equivalent  in  paperless,  including  electronic,  form  issued  or  authorised  by  the
carrier  or  its  authorised  agent;’

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This definition follows quite closely the text appearing in a proposal of the Commission
amending  Council  Regulation  (EEC)  No  295/91  establishing  common  rules  for  a
denied-boarding  compensation  system  in  scheduled  air  transport (1).

‘(u) “duplicate  reservation”  shall  mean  a  situation  which  arises  when  two  or  more
reservations are made for the same passenger when it is evident that the passenger
will  not  be  able  to  use  more  than  one.’

It  was  considered  important  to  insert  these  definitions,  since  ‘ticket’  and  ‘duplicate
reservation’  are  expressions  used  in  several  provisions  of  the  Regulation.

(1) OJ  C  120,  18.4.1998,  p.  18.