4 Rights of passengers
| (30255)
16933/08
+ ADDs 1-2
COM(08) 817
| Draft Regulation on the rights of passengers in bus and coach transport and amending Regulation (EC) No. 2006/2004 on cooperation between national authorities responsible for the enforcement of consumer protection laws
|
| Legal base | Article 71(1) EC; co-decision; QMV
|
| Department | Transport |
| Basis of consideration | Minister's letter of 2 December 2009
|
| Previous Committee Report | HC 19-v (2008-09), chapter 4 (28 January 2009) and HC 19-xxiv (2008-09), chapter 2 (15 July 2009)
|
| To be discussed in Council | 17 December 2009
|
| Committee's assessment | Politically important
|
| Committee's decision | Not cleared; further information requested
|
Background
4.1 In its 2001 White Paper "European transport policy for
2010: time to decide" the Commission listed one of its objectives
as establishing passenger rights in all modes of transport.[12]
Legislation has already been enacted for the aviation sector,
covering passenger rights generally and the rights of passengers
with reduced mobility in two separate Regulations.[13]
In December 2008 the Commission presented a draft Regulation
intended to establish a set of rights for passengers travelling
by sea and inland waterways.[14]
4.2 In December 2008 the Commission also presented
this draft Regulation, intended to establish a set of rights for
passengers using bus and coach services on both domestic and international
routes. The aim of this proposal is to:
- make bus and coach transport
more attractive;
- achieve a level playing field, both between operators
in different Member States and between different modes of transport;
and
- remove potential barriers to disabled people
and people with reduced mobility using buses and coaches by addressing
issues around accessibility and the provision of assistance.
4.3 The draft Regulation has provisions in six chapters
to:
- prevent discrimination on grounds
of nationality or place of residence with regard to conditions
and prices offered to passengers by operators;
- establish standard rules on liability in the
event of death or injury of passengers and loss of or damage to
their luggage and to harmonise these with other modes of transport;
- prevent discrimination on the grounds of disability
or reduced mobility with regard to booking a journey or boarding
a vehicle (unless safety regulations or the size of the vehicle
makes such access impossible);
- give disabled persons and persons with reduced
mobility the right to assistance during their travel, free of
charge;
- oblige companies to provide all passengers with
adequate information throughout their journey, particularly where
services are cancelled or subject to long delays, and with information
about their rights; and
- ensure operators have a complaint handling mechanism,
with each Member State designating a body responsible for the
enforcement of the Regulation.
4.4 When we first considered this proposal, in January
2009, we reported that, whilst the Government supported creating
a level playing field for international bus and coach services
and introducing passenger rights for all modes of transport, it
was important for the proposed Regulation to reflect:
- the differences between international
and local bus services;
- that the bus and coach industry consists of a
significant number of small operators; and
- that the bus and coach industry has much less
control over the infrastructure on which its vehicles run, compared
to the aviation and rail industries.
We also reported a considerable number of the Government's
more detailed concerns, its preliminary views on the financial
implications of the proposal and its intentions on consultation
and preparing an impact assessment. We concluded that the aim
of the draft Regulation was clearly laudable, but that it was
equally clear that there was much to be resolved before the proposal
could be brought to a conclusion.
4.5 When we considered the document again, in July
2009, we heard of little progress in Council consideration, an
account of the European Parliament's first reading and about the
Government's consultations and its initial impact assessment,
which was to be updated. We said that before considering the proposal
again we wanted to have a further account of Council discussions,
once the shape of a possible political agreement became more certain,
and a fuller account of the outcome of the Government's consultations
on the draft Regulation and to see the updated impact assessment,
particularly with some quantification of costs and benefits. Meanwhile
the document remained under scrutiny.[15]
The Minister's letter
4.6 The Minister of State, Department for Transport
(Mr Sadiq Khan) writes now to say that:
- since his last report on this
matter the Swedish Presidency has chaired a further seven meetings
of the working group to consider the proposal;
- the Presidency is expecting that this will enable
it to present Ministers with the basis for a political agreement
at the Transport Council on 17 December 2009; and
- whilst good progress has been made on certain
aspects of the draft Regulation, the scope of the proposal is
a contentious issue that is likely to remain unresolved before
it is discussed during the Council.
4.7 On the scope of the proposal the Minister tells
us that:
- throughout the Working Party
negotiations the Government has sought to secure the exclusion
of local bus services;
- this was on the basis that a Member State should
be able to tailor any requirements to the specific nature of its
bus market;
- to achieve this the Government has been seeking
removal of the public service contract condition that was attached
to the original provision enabling Member States to exempt urban,
suburban and regional transport;
- although it was successful in securing removal
of the public service contract condition from the exemption, the
Presidency is currently proposing that, whilst Member States would
be able to exempt urban, suburban and regional transport from
the majority of the provisions, a limited number would apply;
- a number of Member States, including the UK,
are still calling for the proposed Regulation to only apply to
long-distance bus services, but some Member States have indicated
that they could support the Presidency's current proposal; and
- the Government is still hoping to secure the
ability for Member States to exempt local bus services from all
of the provisions of the proposal, but given some Member States'
changing position this may not be achievable.
4.8 The Minister next reports significant progress
in respect of the chapter in the draft Regulation containing provisions
on liability. He says that:
- the chapter has been completely
re-written and the provision introducing strict liability removed;
- instead passengers will be entitled to compensation
in the event of an accident in accordance with national law of
the state of the carrier;
- however, any limit in national law on compensation
would not be less than €220,000 (about £200,000) per
passenger and €1,200 (about £1,090) per item of luggage;
- carriers would also be required to provide assistance
with regard to the passengers' immediate practical needs following
an accident;
- prior to, and if necessary during, the Council
the Government will be seeking further changes, in particular
to clarify that any assistance would not constitute a recognition
of liability; and
- compared to the original proposal, however, the
burden placed on operators should be reduced.
4.9 The Minister also tells us about seven other
issues:
- the Government was concerned
that the requirement to prevent discrimination on grounds of nationality
or place of residence with regard to prices offered to passengers
might have implications in terms of the provision of concessionary
travel, if this had to be provided to visitors from the other
Member States;
- however, it has been agreed that the proposal
will be clarified to ensure that such schemes could be applied
to local residents only;
- the proposal will be clarified to ensure that
passes, SMS, electronic messages or electronic records would be
classed as a ticket for the purpose of the legislation;
- the provisions in respect of disabled people
and people with reduced mobility largely build on existing domestic
legislation — there were concerns that if the proposal required
operators to modify their vehicles, this could conflict with the
staged introduction of accessible buses and coaches set out in
existing UK legislation;
- however, it has been agreed that the proposal
will be amended to make it clear that the draft Regulation would
not require carriers or terminal managing bodies to modify or
replace their vehicles or the infrastructure and equipment at
bus stops and terminals;
- on information obligations on terminal managing
bodies the Government has sought to make these practical in their
application;
- for example, some respondents to the Government's
consultation said that terminal managing bodies would be unable
to meet the original requirement to inform passengers of delays
one hour before a scheduled arrival, as often they would not know
how late a service would be, until the coach has actually arrived
at the terminal;
- the Government has secured a change so that terminal
managing bodies would only have to inform passengers of a delay
no later than 30 minutes after a scheduled departure and of estimated
departure times as soon as this information were available;
- on designation of a national enforcement body,
whilst this body would still be responsible for ensuring compliance
with the proposed Regulation, it has been agreed that the original
proposal will be amended to give Member States the flexibility
to decide whether the national enforcement body should also be
the first point of contact for complaints or whether another body
should be designated for that role; and
- as originally drafted the proposed Regulation
would have come into effect one year after it has been agreed
— the Government has secured a change to two years, to give
operators and terminal managing bodies more time to prepare.
4.10 On the Government's consultation with stakeholders
the Minister recalls that the responses to the consultation were,
in summary, that:
- most respondents felt that
the proposed Regulation did not achieve a reasonable balance between
the rights of passengers and the economics of service provision;
- there was concern from operators that the proposal
was impractical and disproportionate in respect of local bus services
and could make insurance extremely expensive, assuming cover could
be obtained at all;
- passenger representatives gave qualified support
to the concept of passenger rights, but acknowledged that, as
drafted, the proposals could pose practical difficulties in the
provision of some services;
- they suggested that passenger rights could be
delivered through a different mechanism; and
- disability organisations, however, felt the draft
Regulation would provide more consistent rights for disabled people
across the Community.
He now encloses the Government's full response to
the consultation,[16]
which notes that comments were received from four local government
and parish councils, four from members of the public, 13 from
operators and groups representing operators, six from passenger
and consumer representatives, four from disability organisations
and six from other bodies including enforcement bodies, vehicle
manufacturer representatives and unions. The Government's response
gives a detailed commentary on answers given to 16 questions it
posed in its consultation document.[17]
4.11 The Minister also encloses the Government's
updated impact assessment of the original proposal, to take into
account costs identified by industry and a new option based on
the exclusion of all local bus services, reflecting the Government's
preferred option. The revised impact assessment shows present
value monetised costs and benefits, over five years, of the original
proposal as £497 million and £339 million and of the
option based on the exclusion of all local bus services as £181
million and £122 million. But the Minister comments that:
- for some of the provisions
of the draft Regulation it has still proved difficult to quantify
the costs and benefits;
- this has been particularly the case in respect
of the benefits accrued to passengers; and
- the Government anticipates that the agreed revisions
to the liability provisions would see a decrease in the costs
estimated by industry in respect of the original proposal, as
compensation would be determined in accordance with national law.
4.12 Finally, the Minister tells us of how the Government
now sees this matter developing, saying that:
- it is likely that the scope
of the proposal will only be resolved at the forthcoming Transport
Council itself;
- if, as is expected, a political agreement is
reached at that Council, the Government will continue to lobby
to ensure that the gains it has secured in the first reading of
the proposal will be reflected in the final version of the proposed
Regulation; and
- the European Parliament's second reading of the
proposal has been provisionally scheduled for May 2010.
Conclusion
4.13 We are grateful to the Minister for this
account of where matters stand on this draft Regulation. But we
note that that the important issue of the scope of the proposal
is not wholly resolved and that the, perhaps lesser, matter of
assistance after an accident not constituting a recognition of
liability is also outstanding. So we would not wish the Government
to acquiesce in a political agreement on the present basis. Rather
we are keeping the document under scrutiny pending a further account
of an acceptable resolution to these matters.
4.14 However, if such a resolution were to emerge
at the Transport Council of 17 December 2009 the Government may,
in accordance with paragraph (3)(b) of the Scrutiny Reserve Resolution
of 17 November 1998, support a political agreement at that Council.
12 (22660) 11932/01: see HC 152-xv (2001-02), chapter
2 (30 January 2002) and Stg Co Debs, European Standing
Committee A, 13 March 2002, cols. 3-28. Back
13
Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, on "establishing common rules
on compensation and assistance to passengers in the even of denied
boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights" and
Regulation (EC) No 1107/2006, on "concerning the rights of
disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility when travelling
by air". Back
14
(30264) 11990/08 + ADDs 1-2: see HC 19-v (2008-09), chapter 4
(28 January 2009), HC 19-xxiii (2008-09), chapter 3 (8 July 2009),
HC 19-xxvi (2008-09), chapter 2 (10 September 2009) and HC 19-xxvii
(2008-09), chapter 21 (14 October 2009). Back
15
See headnote. Back
16
See http://www.dft.gov.uk/consultations/closed/eu-bus/response.pdf.
Back
17
See http://www.dft.gov.uk/consultations/closed/eu-bus/consultationdoc.
Back
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