Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union concerning the position of the Council at first reading on the adoption of the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the rights of passengers when travelling by bus and coach and amending Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 on cooperation between national authorities responsible for the enforcement of consumer protection laws
Date: 2010-03-24
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: amendment, bus, carriage of passengers, consumer protection, road transport, transport law

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 24.3.2010 
COM(2010)121 final 

2008/0237 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union 

concerning the 

position of the Council at first reading on the adoption of the Regulation of the 
European Parliament and of the Council concerning the rights of passengers when 
travelling by bus and coach and amending Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 on 
cooperation between national authorities responsible for the enforcement of consumer 
protection laws  

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2008/0237 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union 
concerning the 

position of the Council at first reading on the adoption of the Regulation of the 
European Parliament and of the Council concerning the rights of passengers when 
travelling by bus and coach and amending Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 on 
cooperation between national authorities responsible for the enforcement of consumer 
protection laws  

1. 

BACKGROUND 

Date  of  transmission  of  the  proposal  to  the  EP  and  the  Council
(document COM/2008/817 - COD-2008-237): 

4 December 2008 

Date  of  the  opinion  of  the  European  Economic  and  Social 
Committee: 

16 July 2009 

Date of the position of the European Parliament, first reading: 

23 April 2009 

Date of adoption of the Council position at first reading : 

11 March 2010 

2. 

OBJECTIVE OF THE COMMISSION PROPOSAL 

The proposal, adopted by the Commission on 4 December 2008, aims at establishing rights of 
passengers  when  travelling  by  bus  and  coach  in  order  to  improve  the  attractiveness  of  and 
confidence  in  passenger  transport  by  road.  By  introducing  new  rules,  it  will  enhance  the 
protection  of  passengers  in  general,  and  the  disabled  and  persons  with  reduced  mobility,  in 
particular. It will also set quality standards comparable to those already established in the air 
and rail sectors. 

3. 

COMMENTS ON THE COUNCIL POSITION 

3.1.  General comments 

The Commission considers its proposal to have been substantially modified by the Council in 
some of its parts.  

Firstly, the Council position gives Member States the possibility to exempt urban, suburban 
and  regional  regular  services,  including  cross-border  services  of  such  nature,  from  the 
application  of  the  Regulation.  The  Commission  proposal  included  only  such  a  possibility  if 
such  exempted  services  were  covered  by  public  services  contracts  ensuring  a  comparable 
level  of  passengers'  rights.  Additionally,  Member  States,  for  a  limited  period  of  time,  may 
exempt domestic regular services as well as international services of which a significant part 

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is  operated  outside  the  Union.  These  would  represent  significant  limitation  of  the  scope  of 
application.  

Secondly, the Commission proposal contained a chapter with detailed rules on obligations of 
carriers with regards to compensation and assistance in the event of an accident. The Council 
position has replaced the initial Commission proposal related to carrier liability by a reference 
to applicable national law and an obligation for Member States to ensure that any maximum 
compensation under national law has to be no less than 220.000 EUR per passenger and 500 
EUR per piece of luggage in urban, suburban and regional services (1.200 EUR for all other 
transport  services).  The  Council  position  has  also  substituted  the  advance  payment 
requirement  by  the  obligation  for  carriers  to  provide  assistance  to  the  immediate  practical 
needs  of  passengers  following  an  accident.  Although  this  position  falls  considerably  behind 
the  provisions  in  the  Commission  proposal,  it  would  nonetheless  increase  the  level  of 
protection of passengers at European level, compared to the current situation. 

Finally,  the  Commission  takes  note  of  the  decision  of  the  Council  for  the  Regulation  to  be 
applicable after two years (and not one year) from entry into force. 

3.2. 

Amendments  of  the  European  Parliament  accepted  by  the  Commission  and 
included completely or partly in the Council position  

–  amendment 3 underlining the specificities of the bus and coach sector; 

–  amendment  5  which  refers  to  the  framework  conditions  for  the  provision  of 

disability-related training; 

–  amendments  26,  30,  31,  36,  45,  46  aiming  at  clarifying  and  streamlining  the 

wording of the proposal; 

–  amendment  32,  58,  62  clarifying  the  format  of  information  in  order  to  be 

accessible to all passengers. 

3.3. 

Amendments of the European Parliament accepted by the Commission but not 
included in the Council position  

–  clarification of recitals (amendments 1, 2, 6); 

–  the  introduction  of  new  recitals  which  encourage  Member  States  and  market 
actors to invest in vehicles and infrastructure suitable for the transport of disabled 
and passengers with reduces mobility (amendments 7, 8, 9 and 10); 

–  amendments 13, 16 and 17 clarifying definitions; 

–  amendment 15 on definitions; 

–  amendment 23 and 82 clarifying the conditions of the proposed regime of carriers' 

liability in the case of accidents; 

–  amendments 50, 51 (partially) and 55 reinforcing passenger rights in the case of 

delays and cancellation of services; 

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–  amendments 59 and 60 specifying the conditions under which passenger care shall 

be provided by carriers in case of delays; 

–  amendments 61, 63 underlining the need of carriers to ensure the accessibility of 
information  and  complaint  handling  mechanisms  for  all  passengers  including 
PRM; 

–  amendments 64, 65, 66, 67, 68 clarifying and partially enhancing the functioning 

of the complaint handling regime and enforcement provisions;  

–  amendment  70  clarifying  the  list  of  assistance  action  to  be  provided  to  disabled 

and passengers with reduces mobility onboard;  

–  amendments  73,  33,  34  (partially),  35,  37,  40,  42,  43,  44,  reinforcing  the 
conditions  under  which  PRM  shall  be  provided  assistance  for  before,  while  and 
after their travel by bus and coach. 

3.4. 

Amendments  of  the  European  Parliament  rejected  by  the  Commission  but 
included completely or partly in the Council position  

–  amendment  27,  29  clarifying  the  conditions  for  derogations  to  the  right  of 

transport for disabled and passengers with reduces mobility;  

–  amendment 53 granting passengers the right to meals and refreshments in case of 

delays;  

–  amendment 69 suggesting a date of application of the Regulation two years after 

its entry into force. 

3.5. 

Amendments of the European Parliament rejected by the Commission and not 
included in the Council position  

–  amendments  4,  18,  19,  21,  22,  24  providing  changes  to  the  regime  of  carrier 

liability in the case of accidents; 

–  amendment 14 on definitions; 

–  amendment  25  implying  to  disregard  safety  in  the  transport  of  disabled  and 

passengers with reduced mobility; 

–  amendments  38,  39,  41  relating  to  the  conditions  of  providing  assistance  to 

disabled and passengers with reduces mobility; 

–  amendments 47, 48 limiting the liability of carriers in respect of wheelchairs and 

mobility equipment; 

–  amendments  49,  52,  54,  56,  57  related  to  the  liability  of  carriers  in  the  case  of 

delays or cancellations; 

–  amendments  71  and  72  reducing  the  scope  of  assistance  action  onboard  or  of 

training to be provided to staff to meet needs of PRM in transport. 

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4. 

CONCLUSION 

The Commission is deeply concerned about the very substantial modifications introduced by 
the Council as compared to the initial proposal of the Commission and to some amendments 
of  the  European  Parliament,  to  the  extent  that  they  considerably  reduce  the  scope  of 
application of the draft Regulation and hence the level of protection of EU passengers. The 
Commission  takes  note  of  the  position  adopted  by  the  Council  by  unanimity  and  considers 
that the level of ambitions should be constructively raised again in the framework of further 
inter-institutional debate in view of the final adoption of the Regulation. 

5. 

STATEMENTS BY THE COMMISSION 

The  Commission  made  the  following  statement  at  the  meeting  of  Council  of  transport 
ministers on 17 December 2009: 

"The Commission declares that, despite the fact that the political agreement does not entirely 
meet  certain  important  objectives  of  its  initial  proposal,  it  intends  not  to  oppose  this 
agreement in order to ensure the continuation of the ordinary legislative procedure." 

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