Council progress report on EC multimodal passenger rights proposal

11 June 2024: The Council of the European Union recently published a progress report on the European Commission’s multimodal passenger rights proposal adopted in November 2023. The report shows that preparatory work in the Council focused mainly on the scope of the proposed regulation.

The majority of delegations considered that the scope as set out in the Commission proposal should be better specified, notably in terms of articulation with the exemptions applied by Member States in accordance with EU sectoral legislation on passenger rights.

In the working party meeting on 31 May, the Presidency presented for consideration a compromise text based on a redefined approach of the scope and clarifying several aspects. The Presidency's new approach, widely supported, specifies that the Regulation applies to journeys where: (i) all transport services fall under EU legislation, (ii) bus or coach services cover 250km or more, and (iii) each service has a clear departure time. If one segment of a journey doesn’t meet these conditions, the Regulation still applies to parts with at least two compliant services.

As regards secondly the type of multimodal ticket covered, the Presidency compromise excludes separate multimodal tickets from the scope of the Regulation. Accordingly, the proposed Regulation should apply only to single multimodal tickets and combined multimodal tickets. However, the Presidency compromise provides for an obligation of the carriers and intermediaries to inform passengers on the type of tickets offered, and on the rights and obligations attached to such tickets, regardless the type of tickets offered (i.e., also for separate multimodal tickets).

Thirdly, the Presidency compromise also clarifies the scope of the provisions of the draft Regulation relating to multimodal passenger hubs. Some delegations took the view that the application of this Regulation to all multimodal passenger hubs located in the EU might be disproportionate. Hence, the Presidency proposed to limit the application to hubs which serve as a connection point between transport services, of at least two different modes of transport, that are covered by the Regulation.

The Presidency also outlined avenues for future work on this proposal:

• Type of information to be shared and at what stage of the journey;
• Coherence between this Regulation and sectoral legislation on passenger rights;
• Possible thresholds to limit the multimodal passenger hubs covered by the Regulation;
• Coherence in the deadlines for reimbursement across transport modes;
• Clarifications on the implementation of rights of persons with reduced mobility (PRM), including compensation concerning mobility equipment; and
• Possible definition of assistance dogs.