00:00Autore dei sottotitoli e dei sottotitoli
00:30UDECODE explains what to expect when travelling by air in the EU.
00:35One of the updates concerns compensation for flight delays.
00:40Delay is currently defined as 3 hours for short-haul flights with passengers receiving 250 euros.
00:47The revision sets 4 hours as the threshold for both short-haul and medium-haul flights
00:52with passengers receiving 300 euros.
00:54The revision increases the current delay from 3 to 6 hours for long-haul flights
01:00and reduces the current compensation of 600 euros to 500 euros.
01:06In addition, airliners will be able to charge passengers for luggage placed in the cabin
01:11with only small bags that fit under the seats being free.
01:15The European Parliament will now examine the proposed update
01:20and decide to amend it or reject it.
01:23Let's hear what Europeans think of the possible changes.
01:26I don't think it's so important.
01:303 hours, 4 hours, my God, 1 hour or more.
01:32I would put more in my big bag and I wouldn't take a small bag.
01:37It doesn't bother me more than that either.
01:39I don't want to make a lot of progress and I should be able to repay.
01:43If we continue like this, soon we will have to pay for our own price.
01:48It's not bad, but it's more about transparency because when we are making the reserves,
01:54there are immense options and we never know how much the price will be the final price.
01:59Euronews reporter Grego Arlori has covered this process.
02:04What can we expect from the European Parliament regarding the review of passengers' rights,
02:10notably the right to compensation for delays?
02:13It's going to be tough.
02:15The first group in the chamber, the EPP, warns that there is no way they should water down
02:21passengers' rights.
02:22So for the centre-right party, extending the delay to get compensation is a step in the wrong direction.
02:30The second group in the chamber, the S&D, is on the same direction.
02:34The group feels that the new rules favour airliners and they ask also for automatic compensation.
02:43which means that passengers would get reimbursed within days and not within months.
02:49There are other amendments that are less controversial.
02:53The right to assistance, to information.
02:57What else could change?
02:58So the right of assistance is the right to get refreshment, food accommodation in case of delay or consolation.
03:06Airlines should provide this.
03:07If airlines fail to provide this, then passengers can make their own arrangement and get reimbursed afterwards.
03:15There's also the rerouting right.
03:18Airlines should provide the earliest opportunity for a rerouting for passengers,
03:23which means that maybe this rerouting will happen through another courier or even another transport mode.
03:30Furthermore, airlines should act as swiftly as possible within three hours of a disruption.
03:38Otherwise, a passenger could make its own arrangement and ask for a compensation which could be up to 400% of the original cost.
03:49There was not enough to block these amendments during the vote at the EU Council of Ministers,
03:56but four countries refused them.
04:00It's Germany, Slovenia, Portugal and Spain.
04:03What were the main arguments?
04:05So Spain is asking for legal precise wording to avoid, you know, technical issues that would allow airliners to avoid compensating passengers.
04:15And Madrid is particularly vocal on that question.
04:18The government fined in November five companies for abusive practices, not linked with compensation,
04:25but with charging and luggage in cabins, for instance.
04:29Germany also considers that it's going to reduce the level of protection of consumers,
04:33so we can expect Germany to be frontrunner during the negotiation that is going to take place.
04:39The review also addresses abusive practices, notably the so-called no-show policy.
04:44Passengers cannot be denied boarding on a return flight simply because they did not use the outbound flight.
04:51In the event of cancellation less than 14 days before departure,
04:55airlines must provide prefilled forms for payment of compensation.
04:59Our guest is Agustin Reyner, Director General of the European Consumer Organization,
05:05an entity that has produced a position paper on this review.
05:09Your immediate reaction to the ministerial agreement was to say, and I quote,
05:16there's been a substantial reversal of fundamental rights.
05:20Let's start with the financial compensation for delays.
05:24What is the impact of changing from three to four hours in order to get that compensation?
05:29So, member states' agreement to go from three hours to four hours in compensation would imply
05:37that roughly 50% of people that today are entitled to get compensation in case of a delay,
05:44they will not have this right anymore.
05:46Three hours have been identified also by the Court of Justice as the appropriate threshold.
05:51And consumers are used to this parameter in order to assess whether they can claim compensation or not.
06:00So, therefore, increasing that threshold gives more flexibility to the airlines,
06:06but also means that consumers will end up waiting for much longer in order,
06:10not only to get their flight eventually, but also to claim compensation.
06:13Regarding the payment for cabin luggage, your organization has issued several warnings
06:20that decisions by the European Court of Justice are being disregarded. How so?
06:26The practice of charging consumers for their carry-on luggage on board,
06:31especially by low-cost carriers, is illegal.
06:33It's illegal under EU law, and it's also illegal under the case law of the European Court of Justice.
06:40So, one of the problems that we have identified in the texts that have been agreed by the member states
06:46is that now they're legitimizing that practice.
06:49And bringing a carry-on luggage doesn't have an extra cost for the airline.
06:52In this case, there is no additional cost for an airline.
06:56So, basically, the practice of charging consumers is just basically to extract more money from their customers.
07:02Do you think this review could encourage airlines to go even further in charging for other services,
07:09especially the flagship airlines that tend to be less restrictive than the low-cost ones?
07:16We don't have a crystal ball, but the reality is that now this position of the member states leaves the door open.
07:23So, we could see these business models evolving in the future.
07:27So, there is a matter of ensuring that there is a minimum level of quality when European consumers take a flight.
07:33Airlines for Europe welcomed the government's position.
07:38This organization, which represents 80% of European air traffic,
07:42said that the review will allow for companies to offer the best possible package for consumers.
07:49However, depending on the European Parliament,
07:52the decade-long review may take some more time to reach conclusion.
07:55Thank you.
07:56Thank you for listening.
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