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European consumers have a right to get their prices back if they cancel their flight due to the corona virus, Margrethe Vestager, commissioner for digital affairs and competition law, said on Wednesday. Together with four other colleagues, Vestager presented the European Commission’s package of proposals for the summer tourist season.
The Competition Commissioner has put an end to weeks of pressure from some airlines and EU Member States. Referring to the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus epidemic, companies wanted the Commission to deviate from EU consumer protection rules, forcing European consumers to accept coupons instead of refunds.
Vestager acknowledged that the plight of airlines with liquidity problems due to lost revenue could greatly improve if their customers also received coupons that allowed them to travel later. But
EU law EU law: consumer protection comes first.
In this spirit, the Commissioner also spoke of infringement procedures against Member States that allowed their airlines not to reimburse passengers for canceled tickets.
However, as a compromise solution, the Commission has published recommendations in its package for the summer tourist season that could make it more attractive for passengers to opt for a coupon rather than an immediate refund. For example, along with the coupon, companies can provide additional services or a value higher than the original ticket price, or promise that if the passenger does not use the coupon within 12 months, they will receive its price in cash.
The rest of the package contains much less specificity, since while competition law is the exclusive competence of the EU, only EU Member States can decide on public health action and the lifting of border controls, the European Commission can only make recommendations.
I get a lot of questions about when we are going to travel. But all I can say is how we are going to travel
Transport Commissioner Adina Vălean confessed. Accordingly, the travel part of the package contains a number of guidelines on how to improve ventilation of the means of transport, make cleaning more frequent and efficient, make passengers wear a mask or sneeze into a handkerchief.
The Commission also proposes that:
They will attempt to separate groups of passengers with proper organization, barriers, and signage.
But once people get into the vehicle, there is not much they can do to protect them other than disinfection and wearing a mask. For air travel, for example, it is recommended that passengers and crew do not wander around much on board. An earlier leaked version of the package also stated that intermediate seats would have to be left blank on machines, but this restriction was also removed from the final version.
Nor can we see much more clearly about the opening of borders and the summer tourist season. The Commission essentially reiterated what it proposed to the Member States in April to lift the restrictions: current measures can only be relaxed if the epidemiological situation allows it.
What is new in this announcement is that it gives the Commission the blessing of the already emerging practice of two Member States or a smaller region opening their borders because they have achieved equally good results in crisis management, not all EU countries at the same time, as the Greeks The government pressed. However, they caution that there should be no discrimination between EU citizens, so if Germany and Austria, for example, conclude an agreement, they must allow not only German and Austrian citizens to cross the open common border, but also all others.
However, it is particularly interesting that Health Commissioner Stella Kiriakides warns member states:
admit tourists only if their healthcare system is prepared to cater not only to its own citizens but also to tourists in a possible new wave of epidemics.
According to the commissioner, the emphasis is on grooming and maintaining distance and hygiene rules with travelers. K. Who is referring to scientific research?according to iriakides an “immunity passport” issued a day or two before the trip doesn’t make much sense either, as anyone can get the infection later.
However, EU commissioners hope that Europeans can make the most of the summer season and that whoever wants to can travel.
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