The EU’s Air Passenger Rights Regulation is amended for more efficient enforcement of air carriers’ obligations to provide help, catering and compensation. The provisions under preparation could create a clear legal situation also for missed connections. The competent ministers of the Member States held an orientation debate on the draft at the Transport Council’s session on 10 October 2013 in Luxembourg.

According to the Commission’s original proposal, passengers missing their connections due to the delay of their previous flights should be entitled to catering and compensation subject to certain conditions if the flights are regulated by the same transport agreement. The initiative would oblige air companies to pay not only for deleted flights but also for long delays. This obligation would be based on delays of at least 5 hours or, in the case of flights over 6,000 kilometres, at least 12 hours beyond schedule for travel inside the European Union. The amount of compensation would range from EUR 250 to EUR 600 (approximately HUF 74-178,000) subject to travel distance. Air carriers would be exempted from the obligation to pay compensation if they could prove the extraordinary circumstances that caused the delay.

Pál Völner, Secretary of State for Infrastructure, welcomed the elaboration of the law on the long delays of flights and said further consultations should be held to duly prepare the amendment and to develop detailed rules.

The technological pillar of the Single European Sky is SESAR (Single European Sky ATM Research Programme), a research project aimed at modernising air traffic services. Established in 2007 to manage the deployment stage, SESAR Joint Undertaking is set to finish operations in late 2016 according to the original plans. The Transport Council supported the extension of the Joint Undertaking’s activities for another eight years. The project may receive no more than 600 million euros of support in the next financial period from EU budget funds allocated for the Horizon 2020 research and innovation framework program.

The Transport Council adopted a general approach to the draft of the new railway security directive. Hungary is willing to approve the draft if its proposed text is going to be considered, Secretary of State Pál Völner said. As an indispensable condition of the aid, he mentioned that the five-year deadline for the transposition of the directive as well as the provisions on the fee for the issue of the certificates and the authorities’ supervisory rights should remain during the consultation with the European Parliament. He stressed that the new certification system cannot pose further administrative and financial burdens on national authorities and railway companies. Fares and costs must be set in a transparent, fair and standard way, in cooperation with Member States and in consideration of the solvency of enterprises.

Also, the Transport Council adopted a general approach to the amendment of the regulation on the establishment of the European GNSS Agency.

Before the Council’s meeting, the Hungarian delegation also held consultations with the transport policy leaders of the Visegrád Four. As Pál Völner explained, the coordination of transport infrastructure development in the region, the elimination of bottlenecks and the reduction of journey times are priorities for the Hungarian V4 Presidency. To this end, Hungary wants to reinforce coordination between the Visegrád countries in improving road and railway connections.

(Ministry of National Development, Communications Department)