Consumers should be able to get their money back if their booked air travel is canceled due to the corona virus. With this position, the European Commission is diametrically opposed to the Dutch idea of not giving money but vouchers for the time being.
This is evident from a leaked document on how to resume tourism in the European Union this summer. Infrastructure Minister Van Nieuwenhuizen, together with at least twelve other EU countries, does not want to tax the travel organizations any further and has therefore requested that the law regulating compensation be temporarily put out of operation.
The European Commission does not think this is a good idea, because it is an achievement for consumers. It would be a step backwards if the regulation would be deactivated in a headwind. “It is especially in these times that it is important to preserve consumer rights.”
Van Nieuwenhuizen wants to prevent companies such as KLM from becoming even more financially troubled if consumers make massive use of their right to financial compensation. In total, the French-Dutch airline is more than 3 billion euros. The German Lufthansa has to pay out 3.5 billion euros if all passengers want their money back.
“Companies need to be supported in a different way,” says the European Commission. “They can always request state aid or call on the European Investment Bank (EIB), which has additional credit options especially for smaller companies.”
Roadmap
The European Commission writes that it wants to “make it possible for EU citizens to go on holiday”. But the plan that will be presented on Wednesday does not contain any concrete data or a list of safe countries.
Important for the holidaymaker is the freedom to travel through the European Union. But the Member States themselves are concerned with answering whether it is safe enough. Thereby there should be no discrimination. So if the corona restrictions on the border are lifted, this cannot only apply to a neighboring country or neighboring region. “Everyone should be able to travel then.”
However, in the first phase, the phase of relaxation that we are now in, Member States are allowed to operate selectively. The condition is that regions that want to open up the border to each other are at about the same stage, as the Commission calls it. So with comparable measures and a similar degree of infection. The list of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) is the guiding principle. This mainly concerns border traffic that does not necessarily pass through.
Mass unemployment lurking
It is very important for the European economy that tourists visit the southern countries in particular. 27 million people in the European Union make a living from tourism. It brings a whopping 10 percent of what we all earn in the EU into the drawer. If everyone stays away, mass unemployment threatens.
The Commission also provides concrete advice in the plan. For example, tourist buses must be arranged in such a way that there is one-way traffic, with one entrance and one exit. In terminals, benches and tables need to be removed, a clear mask policy has to be established, and everything needs to be thoroughly cleaned.
How that will look in airplanes will become clear in the coming days, because aviation is still in discussion about corona-safe and yet profitable flying.
PvdA MEP Vera Taks is pleased that there is a plan from the European Commission. “These are nice guidelines that can help to slowly unlock everything.” She does not know whether it will work. “I am skeptical, you suddenly saw 27 different reactions at the outbreak of the virus. It is a good attempt, but we really have to wait and see whether it works. The Member States ultimately determine their policy themselves.”
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