François Bausch, Luxembourg's Deputy PM and Minister for Mobility and Public Works;
Credit: SIP
Luxembourg's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Mobility and Public Works, François Bausch, has denounced the proposal from several EU Member States to allow airlines to temporarily suspend air passenger rights to refunds for cancelled flights in the context of COVID-19.
Minister François Bausch participated yesterday in a video conference of EU transport ministers on the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for transport. The EU ministers exchanged views on possible additional emergency measures and the coordination of the gradual easing of restrictions in the context of the EU's exit strategy.
A central topic of this debate concerned an initiative supported by twelve EU Member States and which aims to allow airlines to delay the reimbursement of tickets for cancelled flights by offering vouchers to the consumers concerned. In this case, consumers would temporarily lose their right to reimbursement, which is enshrined in European regulations on passenger rights. For his part, François Bausch categorically opposed such a breach of consumer rights. The European Commissioner for Transport Adina-Ioana Vӑlean was among those who also defended the application of the regulations in place.
Regarding state aid to the aviation sector which is currently under discussion in many Member States, Minister Bausch urged his counterparts to not just save the companies in question, but to match the financial aid with certain criteria in order to make the sector more sustainable and efficient. The aim is to better equip the aviation sector to face future challenges and in particular its obligations in the context of the green deal and the climate crisis and to preserve the social conditions of the people who work in transport.
In the same vein, Minister Bausch proposed the idea of planning a major European investment in quality rail infrastructure.
François Bausch also called for better coordination and concerted action to determine the measures governing the resumption of transport services and called for the opening of borders.
