Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the  Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the rights of persons with reduced mobility when travelling by air (COM(2005) 47 final — 07/2005 (COD))
Date: 2005-09-28
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: air transport, carriage of passengers, equal treatment, physically disabled person, transport user

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Official Journal of the European Union

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Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Proposal for a Regulation of the
European Parliament and of the Council concerning the rights of persons with reduced mobility
when travelling by air’

(COM(2005) 47 final — 07/2005 (COD))

(2006/C 24/03)

On 8 April 2005 the Council decided to consult the European Economic and Social Committee, under
Article 71 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the abovementioned proposal.

The Section for Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society, which was responsible for
preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 1 September 2005. The rapporteur
was Mr Cabra de Luna.

At its 420th plenary session held on 28 and 29 September 2005 (meeting of 28 September), the European
Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 160 votes to 2 with 1 abstention.

1. Introduction

1.1
The Commission has presented a proposal for a regu-
lation concerning the rights of persons with reduced mobility
when travelling by air, with the aim of guaranteeing disabled
persons and persons with reduced mobility equal opportunities
in air travel compared to the rest of the population.

1.2
The Commission considers travelling by air as one of
the tools for the integration and the active participation of
persons with disabilities in the economic and social life.

The Commission places the initiative in the context of
1.3
its non-discrimination policies, expressly confirmed as a general
principle in the Article 21 of
the Charter of Fundamental
Rights of the European Union. Furthermore Article 13 of the
EC Treaty enables the European Community to combat discri-
mination on the grounds of inter alia disability.

1.4
The regulation aims at ensuring that the opportunities
opened by the creation of a single market in air transport
should equally benefit to all passengers.

The proposal of the Commission constitutes the first
1.5
legislation targeting specifically disabled people in the European
Community law, although its effects will be positive on many
elderly people, and passengers with temporary reduced mobi-
lity.

The proposal, aimed at preventing unfair treatment, is

1.6
based on some fundamental principles:

— passengers with reduced mobility should not be refused
carriage, except cases that requires denied boarding for
safety reasons;

— adequate assistance should be provided without directly

charging the passenger with reduced mobility;

— passengers with reduced mobility should be provided seam-
less high quality service from designated points of arrival to
designated points of departure;

— a centralised system of assistance;

— effective sanctions in the case of non-compliance with the

regulation.

1.7
Voluntary agreements taken by air carriers and airports
in the last years have to be considered as a first positive step
towards eliminating unfair treatment and ensuring quality in
assistance for people with reduced mobility. Nevertheless these
agreements have proven to be insufficient, and there is a need
for defining clear responsibilities and rules in this key area.

2. General comments

The Committee welcomes the initiative of the Commis-
the

2.1
sion and fully supports the fundamental principles of
proposal.

2.2
The regulation contributes clearly to removing barriers
to air transport for people with reduced mobility. It is also
connected to the recent regulation adopted by the EU on
compensation and assistance to passengers for denied boarding,
cancellation, and long delay of flights (1), which contributes to
strengthening passengers' rights.

2.3
recent
Furthermore the EESC has advocated in its
opinions (2) for the need of legislation beyond employment,
tackling barriers faced by disabled people in other areas of life.
Mobility is a key area for social
inclusion of people with
disabilities.

(1) Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 of the European Parliament and of
the Council of 11 February 2004 establishing common rules on
compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied
boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights, and repealing
Regulation (EEC) No 295/91 (OJ L 40, 17.2.2004 p. 1) – EESC
opinion OJ C 241, 7.10.2002, p. 29.

(2) See Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the Integra-
tion of disabled people in society - OJ C 241, 7.10.2002, p. 89 and
Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on Communication
from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the Euro-
pean Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions -
Equal opportunities for people with disabilities: A European Action Plan -
OJ C 110, 30.4.2004 p. 26.

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2.4
The EESC regrets that the legislation does not include
provisions for accessibility for disabled people of airport infra-
structure, vehicles used for
transport of passengers, and
airplanes. The EESC notes that only such measures will ensure
equal opportunities in air travel. The EESC invites the European
Commission to put
forward further legislation in order to
ensure that all new infrastructure and transport equipment is
accessible, and to ensure that existing barriers are gradually
dismantled.

should be made publicly available to all passengers, and not
only upon request.

2.9
The Committee also notes the lack of an explicit provi-
sion obliging the airline to reimburse or re-route and take care
of a person that has been denied boarding pursuant to the
regulation, in a manner similar to the one provided in the regu-
lation on compensation and assistance to passengers for denied
boarding, cancellation, and long delay of flights.

The Committee supports the general framework of the
2.5
regulation and endorses in particular the provision for one
single centralised service managing body at airports, as such a
system is the most reliable way to ensure accountability, high
quality and consistent assistance for passengers with reduced
mobility.

The Committee considers nonetheless that some provi-
2.6
sions should be reinforced, in order to best meet the general
objective.

2.7
The Committee also insists on the need for a wide
consultation of representative organisations within civil society,
in order to ensure that the rights of all citizens, including those
with reduced mobility are guaranteed in the air transport
sector. Furthermore in order to ensure the best implementation
of the regulation, it is important to ensure that a dialogue —
comprising safety standards — is established between airports,
service providers, airlines, and representative organisations of
disabled people, including people with reduced mobility within
the Airport Users Committee.

The Committee welcomes the fact that assistance will not be
charged to people with disabilities, but disagrees with the
proposal that assistance should be financed in such a way as to
spread the burden equitably over all passengers, as stated in
recital 7 of the EC draft regulation. The Committee restates that
the charge of assistance must be shared among the air carriers
using an airport in proportion to the number of passengers
that each carries to and from that airport, and that it should
not in any case lead to an increase of air fares paid by passen-
gers.

The Committee notes that the derogation from the main
2.8
principle in Article 3 — the prevention of refusal of carriage
— provided for in Article 4, by which denied boarding is
allowed in order to meet safety requirements, should be further
clarified in order to prevent arbitrary denials. A framework
should be defined at EU level specifying and defining safety
requirements either through an annex attached to this regu-
lation or through an implementing regulation. Currently such
rules are defined by carriers or by legislation and as a conse-
quence are very diverse and sometimes contradictory. The
proposal by the European Commission to have safety require-
ments defined by national
legislation would not solve this
In addition information on safety requirements
problem.

2.10
The Committee also highlights the need to reinforce
provisions on the obligation to provide assistance mentioned in
article 5. The responsibility of
the airport managing body
should be extended also to passengers transferred or in transit
through an airport as long as they have given 24 hours notifi-
cation. The current wording of the proposal — make all reason-
able efforts — is not satisfactory. However, exceptional circum-
stances, independent of the managing body, can be taken into
account.

The Committee takes the view that all European
2.11
airports should set consistent, high quality standards,
for
passengers with reduced mobility beyond those established in
annex I of the regulation. The two million passengers threshold
in the current proposal would exempt a significant number of
European airports from this main obligation. In addition, the
Committee believes that for small airports below one million
passengers per year quality standards — adapted to their size
— have also to be established at local level in close cooperation
including people with
with organisations of disabled people,
reduced mobility.

The EESC also points out

that disability awareness
2.12
is necessary in order to ensure
training of adequate staff
adequate assistance to the person's needs and quality. The
application of new technologies (e.g. short message services
(SMS) or pagers could also facilitate transfer of passengers with
reduced mobility (such as people with hearing and visual
disabilities).

2.13
Consideration should be given to the need for a simple
procedure for notification of assistance which should be also
free of charge. Such notification happens as a general rule
when tickets are reserved, and is received by airline companies.
It is therefore essential that there is a reliable information
transfer from airline companies to airports, in order to ensure
the best quality of services. A confirmation code should be
given to the passenger when notifying the need for assistance.
Moreover, in case of dispute, the burden of proof concerning
non-notification should rest with air carriers and/or the tour
operator responsible for the reservation.

2.14
Furthermore accessibility requirements should be taken
into account in notification procedures. Alternative modes of
communication: telephone and internet should be available.
Internet web-sites should be WAI-compliant (3) and telephone
notification should be free of charge.

(3) The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) are internationally accepted
guidelines for accessibility of Web sites, browsers, and authoring
tools, in order to make it easier for people with disabilities (e.g.
physical, visual, hearing, and cognitive or neurological disabilities),
to use the Web. For further information see: http://www.w3.org/
WAI and the European Commission Communication on improving
the accessibility of public web sites on 25 September 2001.

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2.15
The EESC also considers that a reference should be
inserted in the text of the regulation to Directive 95/46/EC on
the protection of individuals with the regard to the processing
of personal data and on free movement of such data, in order
to ensure respect to privacy, that the information requested is
limited to the purposes of carrying out the obligations of assis-
tance set in the regulation, and that it shall not be used against
the passenger requiring the service.

level

responsible

at Member State

The Committee is concerned that the designation of
2.16
different bodies
for
complaints may prevent effective infringement procedures and
access by passengers. The EESC highlights the need for an
easily accessible body for receiving complaints, monitoring
implementation of the regulation and the enforcement. The
EESC believes that one single body in each Member State could
be responsible for these matters in order to provide for a less
complex system than in the current proposal. Given the inter-
nationalisation of air travel, and the increasing number of
passengers travelling between countries different
than their
country of residence, the EESC considers appropriate the estab-
lishment of a European-level body.

to the mobility, autonomy, and security of

2.17
The EESC argues for the need for persons with reduced
mobility being entitled to full compensation in case of
damaged or lost mobility equipment. The important conse-
quences
the
passenger must be duly taken into account. The EESC also
considers that the responsibility for ground handling of mobi-
lity equipment should be attributed to the air carrier, in order
to ensure consistency with the International framework for air
carriers liability, as established by the Montreal Convention.

Brussels, 28 September 2005

2.18
The Committee also would like to point out the need
to establish firmly in the regulation clear responsibilities and
liabilities in case of accident or mishandling of passengers
needing assistance whether at the airport, or when boarding
the aircraft in line with the Warsaw Convention as amended by
the Hague and Montreal Conventions (4).

2.19
The EESC would also like to address some issues
relating to assistance on board aircrafts. The EESC proposes to
delete the proposed limitation of carriage of guide dogs to five
hours as this limitation does not exist in practice. The regu-
lation should also include a requirement on carriers to inform
on restrictions on carriage on board of mobility equipment.
Provisions on the accessibility of information concerning flights
should be extended to safety measures.

2.20
The EESC is also concerned that the regulation does
not tackle all obstacles to air travel. In particular, it is crucial
that all new airports are accessible for persons with reduced
mobility and that existing airports gradually eliminate barriers
to equal access.

2.21
Furthermore the EESC would like to recommend air
carriers when buying or chartering new aircrafts to choose
those that meet accessibility standards.

3. Conclusion

The EESC supports strongly the proposal, but recom-
3.1
mends a number of changes detailed in Part 2 in order to
ensure greater consistency and effectiveness to the need for
equal opportunities for disabled passengers and passengers with
reduced mobility when travelling by air.

The President

of the European Economic and Social Committee

Anne Marie SIGMUND

(4) See Article 7 that establishes responsibilities for air carriers in case
of accidents, on board the aircraft or when embarking and disem-
barking a passenger.