Union strives for hassle-free holidays

Date: 27/07/00

As millions of Europeans pack their bags for the summer break, most are probably unaware of the efforts the EU has made to ensure their holidays go as smoothly as possible. Renee Cordes reports

AS MILLIONS of Europeans prepare to pack their bags and head for holiday sun spots armed with little more than trashy novels, suntan oil and bathing costumes, little do they realise what the EU is doing behind the scenes to ensure they have a hassle-free, safe break.

The most obvious and high-profile of these efforts is the European Commission's campaign to inform air passengers of their rights under existing Union law. Posters on display this summer at 130 airports throughout Europe in several languages inform tourists about the information they are entitled to receive from travel agents and carriers when booking their journeys, and the compensation they should get in the event of their flight being overbooked or an accident in the air. Ironically, with an ever-increasing number of delays in Europe's congested skies, travellers have more time than ever to read posters such as these while waiting to board their flights.

"It is one thing to create these rights, another to make people really aware of them," said Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio when launching the initiative in Rome. "This charter will allow passengers to better understand their rights and to exercise them more effectively."

The Spanish Commission vice-president has also promised to come forward with proposals for a host of new measures aimed at boosting passengers' rights. These include requiring airlines to reimburse travellers for delays or cancellations, or give them a seat on the next available flight; supply contracts clearly setting out the service provided; and publish regular consumer reports so that travellers can select the best overall deal.

At the same time, her fellow Commissioners are scrutinising planned alliances among carriers and tour operators to ensure fair competition, seeking to toughen up legislation to protect holiday-makers from unscrupulous package tour and time-share operators, and overseeing moves to clean up Europe's bathing waters.

Unfortunately, many of these efforts may not bear fruit until well into next year's holiday season, by which time all but the most loyal fans may have trouble remembering who won this year's European soccer championship or the words to Britney Spears' latest chart-topping single.

But that is not stopping the EU executive from pursuing a relatively new and increasingly important long-term goal of putting consumers in the driver's seat when they go on holiday.

The move to bolster airline passengers' rights has been prompted by a growing number of complaints from travellers about what they considered to be sub-standard service from air carriers. Regulators contend that while increased competition has generally led to lower prices, customer dissatisfaction is growing.

While this may make De Palacio popular among the Union's citizens, she faces strong criticism from the industry, which argues that if travellers do not like the service on offer, they can always vote with their feet and their wallets.

"We believe that they are confused between the concepts of passenger rights and passenger expectations," said Mike Mollar, assistant director of passenger services for the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents 260 international airlines carrying about 96% of all the world's scheduled traffic. "The danger is that you are going to legislate areas where competition should allow for a higher class of service. Whether people want to fly with a no-frills or high-frills airline is fine, but we should let the market decide."

Things have indeed come a long way since organisations such as IATA had rules in place to govern how many sausages should be served in an in-flight meal. Industry executives argue that it is now up to individual carriers competing for the attention of the ever-growing number of passengers to decide what to offer. Airlines also insist that they place a high priority in informing travellers about code-sharing arrangements and stop-overs. "It is in our own interest to ensure we look after our customers well," says Michael Blunt, a spokesman for British Airways, who adds that not a day goes by when the firm does not conduct some kind of market research to explore ways to improve service.

Of course, when flights are delayed it is often not the fault of the carriers themselves, but is due to increasing traffic in Europe's skies and the lack of a coordinated air traffic control system.

About 20% of intra-European departures were delayed by more than 15 minutes during the first quarter of this year, according to figures released by the Association of European Airlines. Although this is down from last year's figure of 28.5%, the association says it is still "much too high".

One of De Palacio's first acts as transport chief was to establish a new 'single sky' unit and set up several high-level groups within the EU executive to explore ways of tackling the problem. If all goes according to plan, there will be a significant reorganisation of airspace in Europe this time next year and the delays will at least be under control.

But well before heading off to distant shores, holiday- makers are entitled to a fair deal from travel agents and airlines when making their travel arrangements - whether they go by land, rail or sea.

Last September, the Commission blocked UK giant Airtours' bid to buy rival First Choice because it would have left three powerful players dominating the British package holiday market. Regulators will continue to keep a close eye on consolidation within the industry, especially in the UK market, where the country's big four tour operators control about three-quarters of the market.

In addition, airlines have to be careful that they do not violate competition rules when planning link-ups with other carriers and devising incentives scheme designed to encourage travel agents to favour their own flights over rivals in the wake of last year's €6.8-million fine imposed on BA by the Commission. Competition Commissioner Mario Monti has yet to rule on several planned intra-European and transatlantic airline alliances, with decisions expected later this year.

Unfortunately, daring consumers who decide to book their journeys through one of the many new Internet booking agents such as lastminute.com or travelocity.com do so at their own risk, given the lack of clear-cut regulations governing these kinds of contracts.

Closer to earth, the Commission is ploughing ahead with efforts to ensure a well-functioning single rail system in the EU, improve road safety and keep dangerous sea vessels out of Union waters.

But those left in the lurch by unscrupulous package tour or time-share operators will have to wait a bit longer for the tougher Union-wide regulations which have been promised by Consumer Protection Commissioner David Byrne in response to concern about loopholes in the existing legislation.

Once travellers do reach the beaches of their choice this year, they can rest assured that the water is getting cleaner, although it is not yet completely up to the standard required under EU legislation.

In its most recent annual bathing-water quality report, the Commission found that while there was a slight improvement in fresh-water areas, there was still much to be done to clean up coastal waters. The EU executive has pursued legal action actions against several member states for failing to respect the 1994 EU bathing-water directive, and cases are still pending against most member states. Environment chief Margot Wallstrom has also promised to come forward with proposals to update the legislation, and these are expected later this year or early 2001.

Hopefully, regulators will return from their holidays well-rested and ready to plunge into the task of ensuring an even better holiday season for Europe's citizens next year.

Major feature. As millions of Europeans pack their bags for the summer break, most are probably unaware of the efforts the EU has made to ensure their holidays go as smoothly as possible.