7.3.2014   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 68/21

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having regard to Title IV of Part Three of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), concerning the free movement of persons,

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having regard to the Commission communication to the European Parliament and the Council entitled ‘A European vision for Passengers: Communication on Passenger Rights in all transport modes (COM(2011)0898),

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having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee of 23 May 2012 (1),

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having regard to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,

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having regard to its resolution of 25 November 2009 on passenger compensation in the event of airline bankruptcy (2),

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having regard to its resolution of 25 October 2011 on mobility and inclusion of people with disabilities and to the European Disability Strategy 2010-2020 (3),

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having regard to its resolution of 29 March 2012 on the functioning and application of established rights of people travelling by air (4),

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having regard to Rule 48 of its Rules of Procedure,

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having regard to the report of the Committee on Transport and Tourism and the opinion of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (A7-0287/2012),

A.

whereas since the relevant goals were charted in the Commission’s 2001 White Paper, a comprehensive EU passenger rights package has been developed for all modes, namely air, rail, waterborne and road transport, affording basic protection to passengers while ensuring a level playing field for carriers;

B.

whereas, however, some of these passenger rights are still not being applied completely by all carriers, nor are they being monitored in a harmonised fashion or enforced properly by all national authorities; whereas some of the existing regulations have failed to provide clarity on passenger rights or the responsibilities of service providers and therefore require revision; whereas, in addition, passengers are not well informed about their rights and the quality of service they are entitled to expect, and their legal claims are often difficult to lodge and enforce;

C.

whereas this assessment is confirmed by a survey of Members and EP staff carried out by the rapporteur;

D.

whereas with its latest communication and other very recent initiatives (revision of Air Passenger Rights Regulation (EC) No 261/2004; Package Travel Directive 90/314/EEC), the Commission is seeking to clarify and strengthen passenger rights in all modes;

E.

whereas care needs to be taken to avoid too much bureaucracy for smaller bus operators in rural areas, who often provide a valuable community service for isolated areas;

F.

whereas it is essential to strike a balance between the need for passenger rights in the case of rural bus services and the need to ensure that the burden is not so heavy as to make such services unviable in the future;

G.

whereas a high level of consumer protection is guaranteed by Article 169 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Article 38 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union;

H.

whereas there is still an ongoing problem with price transparency for consumers booking tickets on the internet,

1.

Endorses the Commission’s intention to enforce the current rules on passenger rights more firmly and improve them where necessary, and welcomes its communication as a useful summary of achievements to date;

2.

Emphasises that passengers have not only rights but also responsibilities, and that meeting these helps ensure that everything runs safely and smoothly for them and other travellers before, during and after the journey;

3.

Is of the opinion that the common criteria (non-discrimination, equal treatment, physical and ICT accessibility, the requirements of ‘design for all’, fulfilment of the transport contract, exact and accessible information given in good time before, during and after travel, and appropriate assistance without delay in the event of problems and possible compensation), together with the ten specific passenger rights listed in the Commission communication, correspond to the main rights cutting across modes and form a solid basis for establishing a legally enforceable charter of passenger rights;

4.

Notes that the preconditions of safety and security, including both the technical safety of the transport equipment and the physical safety of passengers, must continue to have priority;

5.

Recommends that the Commission include in its list of passenger rights the right to a minimum quality services standard on the part of carriers and that it set out a clear definition of such a standard;

6.

Points to the need for the forthcoming Commission initiatives concerning passenger rights to tackle what is missing in the fragmented state of the existing regulations, namely a seamless travel chain for all passengers across all modes of transport; in the upcoming reviews of the EU rules on passenger rights (for air, rail, waterborne and road transport), improved convergence between the different legislation in those four areas should be considered as a priority and amendments introduced accordingly;

7.

Calls on the Commission to carefully review and oversee the implementation of comprehensive regulations which avoid ambiguities and misunderstandings relating to passenger rights and the responsibilities of service providers;

8.

Considers in particular that the definitions of delays and cancellation should not create any distortion between the rights applicable in different transport modes;

9.

Is aware that there are structural differences within individual transport modes and that any single cross-cutting regulation on passenger rights must take this into account; recognises that such a regulation cannot be drawn up at present, as the regulations on passenger rights in waterborne and bus and coach transport have not yet entered into force, although it must be the declared aim in the medium term; believes, however, that a holistic approach is needed, so as to integrate all passenger rights – inter alia to compensation, reimbursement and information – into a common legislative framework providing conditions for fair competition between the different transport modes;

10.

Calls on the Commission therefore, at this stage, to draw up guidelines on the application and implementation of rights in all transport modes which will not have the effect of either standardising the laws or watering down passenger rights, and which recognise the differing requirements of each mode as well as aspects common to all;

11.

Recommends that the Commission prepare a Common Frame of Reference (CFR) for passenger law, containing principles, definitions and model rules for passenger legislation for all modes of transport, in order to form a basis for the further consolidation of passenger law; the Passenger CFR should thus follow the example of the CFR on European contract law;

12.

Takes the view that passengers’ rights and passenger service must be adapted to changes in patterns of travel, and draws particular attention in this regard to the new challenges posed by intermodal travel and the associated information and reservation systems for both passengers and travel companies; underlines the need to adapt travellers’ rights and operators’ obligations, inter alia in the field of package travel (5), to reflect the current state of affairs, and calls on the Commission speedily to put forward a revised proposal to remedy, as a matter of priority, the current shortcomings affecting the scope of rules, the online sale of travel packages and abusive clauses in contracts;

13.

Stresses the importance of the EU continuing to address passenger rights in bilateral and international agreements in relation to all modes of transport, with a view to the improvement of passenger protection beyond its borders;

14.

Welcomes the Commission’s decision to maintain its information campaign on passenger rights up to 2014; recommends that national consumer protection authorities and travel agencies be involved in the campaign, since they can do a great deal to educate passengers about their rights (for instance by producing literature for travel agencies or web content); maintains, meanwhile, that key information including passenger rights and, possibly, operator performance reviews should be made accessible by the same sources so as to facilitate passenger enquiries; invites public authorities, national consumer protection agencies and organisations representing all passengers to launch similar campaigns;

15.

Calls for the list of rights common to all modes to be circulated widely, in a concise form and in all official EU languages;

16.

Points out that a trip is a contract between the service provider and the consumer that can take various forms, and that the consumer should therefore know all the details of this contract at the point when the contract is drawn up, while any subsequent changes should be made known to those involved in a timely manner; considers that this contract should contain information on relevant aspects of the trip and on the passenger’s rights in case of problems;

17.

Calls on all transport operators and other service providers concerned to make greater efforts to inform passengers more fully, particular in cases of crossborder travel; considers that information must be readily understandable, accurate, complete, easily accessible for all and available in different formats and in the national language as well as in English, and should include details regarding relevant websites and smartphone applications, as well as postal addresses for complaints and complaint forms;

18.

Calls, moreover, for passengers to be informed of their rights in the same way as they are informed of their obligations;

19.

Stresses that the rights and obligations of passengers and of other relevant stakeholders (e.g. transport operators, infrastructure managers, persons accompanying disabled passengers) must be set out, and all pre-journey travel information (including websites), reservation systems, real-time travel information and online services must be made available to the passenger in formats that are accessible to persons with disabilities or reduced mobility;

20.

Calls on carriers to provide information on passenger rights on travel tickets, especially contacts details for help and assistance;

21.

Stresses that where through-ticketing applies, clear information should be provided on the liability of the carriers in the event of damage to baggage during the journey, as well as on differentiated baggage allowances, compensation for delays, and the rules applying between carriers, and also on adequate rerouting in case of travel disruption or missed connections, including intermodal rerouting;

22.

Welcomes the Commission’s new smartphone application, which provides information on passenger rights in several languages and in a format accessible to passengers with disabilities; calls on the Member States and carriers to press ahead with the development and use of similar modern technologies (including SMS and the use of social networks, video-based sign language services, and text-based services to ensure the inclusion of deaf, hard-of-hearing and speech-disabled users); calls on public authorities, consumer protection bodies and organisations representing the interests of all passengers to launch similar initiatives; invites the Commission, furthermore, to take account at all moments of the circumstances of elderly people, who are not always equipped with modern technology when travelling; takes the view, moreover, that consideration should be given to making the internet available free of charge at airports, stations and other major departure points, so as to enable fuller use of these services;

23.

Urges the Commission to promote the use of new technologies for all modes of transport, to be applied to the issuing of boarding cards that can be retained, are valid and can be shown using electronic devices, in order to speed up boarding procedures and make travel more environmentally sustainable;

24.

Recommends that adequately staffed information points and helpdesks which are physically and ICT-accessible and whose staff are adequately trained to respond to persons with disabilities or with reduced mobility need be set up at visible and centrally located places of departure and arrival (airports, railway stations, bus terminals, and ports) in order to provide more comprehensive assistance to passengers in the event of individual or collective travel disruption, paying particular attention to passengers travelling with children and to persons with disabilities or reduced mobility; recommends that there should be properly trained personnel at hand who are able to take immediate decisions on rerouting or rebooking, assist in cases of lost, delayed or damaged luggage, and deal with claims for compensation or reimbursement; at small and unstaffed railway and bus stations, alternative solutions, such as an information phone number or a web-page, should be made available;

25.

Takes the view that all transport companies must provide accessible and effective telephone assistance for all passengers once a trip has been booked; such assistance must include the provision of information and alternative proposals in the event of disruption and, in the case of air, maritime and rail transport, its cost should in no circumstances exceed that of a local call;

26.

Believes that when buying tickets passengers should be properly informed about overbooking;

27.

Calls on the Commission to update all sources of information ((its website, documents, brochures) regarding passenger rights as applying to the different transport modes, taking account of the latest legal decisions and particularly those of the European Court of Justice;

28.

Calls on the Commission to extend the obligation to report on the standard of service, which already applies to railway undertakings, so as to cover carriage by other modes, taking account of their respective specificities; is of the opinion that published comparative data could help to guide passengers and could be used by carriers for advertising purposes;

29.

Calls on the Commission to oblige the Member States to gather statistical data on infringements of passenger rights and ways of dealing with all complaints, on the number and length of delays, and on lost, delayed or damaged baggage; calls on it to analyse the statistical data as provided by the Member States, publish the results and create a data bank for the exchange of information; also calls on the Commission, in cooperation with the Member States and the national enforcement bodies, to take the necessary measures in this regard;

30.

Considers that the websites of many transport operators are still rather unclear and can mislead consumers when they are booking tickets; calls on the Commission to enable the current legislation on price transparency and unfair commercial practices to be implemented and enforced effectively, in accordance with Directives 2011/83/EU and 2005/29/EC, and to consider introducing a system of penalties to be applied should it be established that EU legislation on price transparency has been infringed;

31.

Calls on the Commission to ensure that, notably in computerised reservation systems governed by Regulation (EC) No 80/2009, non-optional operational costs are included in fares, and that genuinely optional items are published and bookable with all necessary information and fees for ancillary services (such as charges for payment by credit card or handling luggage), so that no extra costs are added just before a purchase is made and passengers can clearly differentiate between non-optional operational costs included in fares and bookable optional items;

32.

Calls on the Commission to ensure closer monitoring of websites and to notify the national enforcement bodies where there are misapplications of the existing regulations, with a view to their reinforcement;

33.

Calls on the Commission, in cooperation with the national authorities, to consider the implementation of a harmonised, intermodal vision of the content of passenger transport services and of the elements of the price to be included in the basic fare for all transport modes;

34.

Believes that the hard core of services to be included in the basic fare should at least cover all operational costs indispensable to transport passengers (including those linked to the carrier’s legal obligations, such as safety, security and passenger rights), all aspects essential for travel from the passenger’s perspective (such as the provision of tickets and boarding cards and the carrying of a minimum amount of luggage and personal belongings), and all costs related to payment (such as credit card costs);

35.

Calls on the Commission to address the proliferation of unfair terms in air carrier contracts, such as the unfair requirement that passengers must use the outgoing part of a return ticket in order to be able to use the return part and that they must use all the tickets for a journey in consecutive order;

36.

Calls on the Commission to ensure that ticketing and transparent pricing are available to everybody without discrimination, independently of the location or nationality of the consumer or the travel agency, and that price discrimination against passengers on the basis of their country of residence is more thoroughly investigated and, where identified, fully eliminated;

37.

Calls on the Commission to deal with the transparency and neutrality of distribution channels which have developed outside the scope of Regulation (EC) No 80/2009 on computerised reservation systems;

38.

Reiterates its call on the Commission to propose measures for the introduction of common standards for the carriage of hand luggage, so as to protect passengers against excessive restrictions and allow them to carry on board a reasonable amount of hand luggage, including purchases from airport shops;

39.

Urges the Commission to accelerate the tabling of a legislative proposal revising the Package Travel Directive 90/314/EEC, in order to ensure that consumers and firms in the sector have a clear legal framework, for both standard situations and exceptional situations; believes, moreover, that in its revision the Commission should consider making the same legislation applicable to all parties offering tourism services, since the quality of services provided to the consumer and fair competition should be prime factors in this context;

40.

Expects the Commission, in its revision of the Package Travel Directive, to fully examine the impact of e-commerce and digital markets on consumer behaviour within the European tourism industry; believes it should step up its efforts to improve the quality and content of information provided to tourists and that such information should be reliable and easily accessible to consumers;

41.

Notes that EU passenger rights law is still not being applied and enforced in the same way in all transport modes and in all parts of the EU, a fact which impedes free movement within the internal market, since it affects the confidence of citizens when travelling and undermines fair competition among carriers;

42.

Urges the Commission to provide a clear set of rules for the establishment of national enforcement bodies, in order to facilitate a more transparent and easier access of passengers to those bodies;

43.

Considers the fusion of national enforcement bodies from different modes of transport to be a necessary step towards achieving a consistent implementation of passenger rights;

44.

Calls on the Commission to ensure that the national enforcement bodies work more closely together, adopt more uniform working methods, and exchange information intensively at national level and EU-wide with a view to networking and implementing, and to use all its powers, including resort to the infringement procedure where necessary, to ensure that the relevant EU legislation is implemented more consistently;

45.

Recalls that the application of a uniform working method for all national enforcement bodies will ensure the harmonised enforcement of passenger rights in all Member States;

46.

Calls on the Member States to deploy adequate resources so as to ensure effective enforcement and collaboration with national enforcement bodies in other Member States; underlines the importance of uniform, effective, dissuasive and proportionate sanctions and compensation schemes in order to create a level playing field and introduce powerful economic incentives for all actors involved to comply with the provisions on passenger rights;

47.

Calls on the Commission to use its influence to create joint complaint-handling machinery for the national enforcement bodies, in the form of a central electronic clearing house; believes that this clearing house should advise passengers lodging complaints and, to save time and costs, refer them to the appropriate national enforcement body; recommends, as regards the information and advice to be obtained through the clearinghouse, that a standard email address be adopted and a free EU-wide hotline set up;

48.

Calls on the Commission to promote guidelines for the prompt settlement of complaints using simplified procedures;

49.

Calls on the Commission to produce, in cooperation with the Member States and in consultation with all stakeholders concerned, a specific standard EU-wide complaint form for each transport mode, which should be translated into all EU Member States’ official languages and should be accessible for all passengers, including the blind, and available in different modes, at the booking stage, at all terminals and online; calls on the Commission to propose a maximum time limit which should be laid down for all modes and should apply to both passengers submitting complaints and transport operators and national enforcement bodies handling complaints;

50.

Asks the Commission to ensure that all passengers have the possibility to get in touch with the transport operator, particularly for information or complaint purposes, at non-premium rates by all the methods of communication that can be used when booking;

51.

Considers that contact details for the after-sales services provided by transport operators, such as passenger information and complaint-handling services, should be clearly indicated on the ticket, in the same way as all the indispensable features of a transport service such as the price and the summary of terms and conditions of travel;

52.

Urges the Commission, together with the Member States, to locate any structural or procedural flaws in the national complaint-handling services and eliminate them, and to ensure that the legislation is implemented in conjunction with the planned EU measures in the area of alternative dispute resolution (ADR), and that there is an effective collective redress mechanism to ensure that passengers can exercise their rights to an affordable, expedient and accessible Europe-wide system, with the proviso that the parties to a dispute must continue to have the option of appealing to the courts; urges the Member States, with the support of the Commission, to set up and develop well-regulated mediation instruments for dealing with conflicts between passengers and service providers, for all transport modes managed by enforcement bodies and other independent bodies;

53.

Commends the increased use of mobile applications for core services, especially in air transport, such as ticket purchases and check-in, and urges the industry to speed up the development of similar tools for complaint handling and missing baggage management;

54.

Points to the need, for all modes, for a unambiguous definition of the relevant terms and especially of ‘extraordinary circumstances’, as this would enable carriers to apply the rules more consistently, give passengers a valid tool with which to assert their rights, and reduce the variations that now exist as regards national enforcement, as well as the scope for legal challenges to compensation rules; calls on the Commission to draw up the necessary legislative proposals, involving transport stakeholders and taking note of the relevant ECJ rulings; emphasises that such a definition needs to take into consideration the differences between modes of transport; notes that technical failure should not be considered as an extraordinary circumstance and falls within the liability of a carrier; emphasises that carriers should not be made liable for disruption they did not cause if they took all reasonable steps to avoid its occurrence;

55.

Considers that current levels of consumer protection in the event of airline bankruptcy or insolvency are inadequate, and that optional insurance policies are not a substitute for statutory entitlements; calls on the Commission to submit a legislative proposal encompassing suitable measures to protect passengers in the event of the insolvency or bankruptcy of an airline or the withdrawal of an airline’s operating licence, which would cover such areas as the repatriation of stranded passengers in the event of cessation of operations, compulsory airline insurance or the creation of a guarantee fund; draws attention, in this connection, to its resolution of 25 November 2009 on passenger compensation in the event of airline bankruptcy; urges the Commission to work towards an international agreement extending the provisions for such action to third-country airlines;

56.

Reminds the Member States of their obligations under Regulation (EC) No 1008/2008 to carry out regular assessments of air carriers’ financial situation and to take the steps provided for in cases of failure to meet the stipulated conditions, including the possible withdrawal of an airline’s operating licence; urges the Commission to ensure that national authorities comply with these obligations;

57.

Urges the Commission to propose an obligation on service providers in the different transport modes to provide for a final guarantee to cover their liability in the case of insolvency, bankruptcy or removal of an operating licence;

58.

Welcomes the Commission’s intention to revise Regulation (EC) No 261/2004; asks it, in this context, to examine the effects of the Sturgeon judgment as part of its assessment of the impact of its legislative proposal (6);

59.

Requests the Commission to deal with the matter of liability for damage to baggage and specifically to mobility or other assistive devices, given that the cost of replacing these frequently exceeds the maximum reimbursement permitted by international law; insists that any damage to the mobility equipment of persons with reduced mobility or persons with disabilities resulting from handling by carriers/service providers must be compensated in full, since such equipment is important for their integrity, dignity and independence and is therefore in no way comparable with luggage;

60.

Calls on the Member States to clarify the competences of their national enforcement bodies with respect to handling complaints related to mishandled luggage in maritime and aviation transport;

61.

Considers that if luggage is lost, delayed or damaged, airlines must in the first instance compensate the passengers with whom they have concluded a contract, but that at a later stage airlines must have a right to seek redress from the airports or service providers where they are not necessarily responsible for any prejudice that has occurred;

62.

Calls on carriers to pay the utmost attention to safety and security issues, including both the technical safety of the transport equipment and the physical safety of passengers, and to train their staff to enable them to cope with emergencies, including maintaining contact with persons with reduced mobility and persons with disabilities; stresses that such training must be carried out in cooperation with representative organisations of persons with reduced mobility and persons with disabilities;

63.

Calls on the Commission to review, in cooperation with the carriers, the safety standards relating to persons with disabilities and persons with reduced mobility in order to set specific standards to apply to the various transport sectors, primarily air transport (7);

64.

Calls on carriers, together with representatives of industry, service providers and representative organisations of persons with disabilities, to devise comprehensible standard notification procedures and, if possible, set up coordinated notification systems, so as to make travel, and in particular intermodal travel, easier and barrier-free for people with disabilities or reduced mobility and enable them to easily communicate their assistance needs in advance at no additional cost, so that carriers can adapt to specific requirements and thus meet their obligation to assist;

65.

Considers it essential to establish minimum standards for assisting people with disabilities and reduced mobility in all modes of transport, so as to ensure a harmonised approach throughout the EU;

66.

Calls on the Commission to establish harmonised minimum rules across modes on the minimum level of care to be provided in case of long delays at the transport terminal/station or on the vehicle/train/boat/plane; accommodation or alternative transport arrangements for persons with disabilities must be accessible, and adequate assistance must be provided;

67.

Notes that accessibility has a direct impact on the quality of health and social life of older persons, who are often faced with mobility, sensory or mental impairments that affect their ability to travel and continue to be active participants in society;

68.

Calls on the Commission to formulate a general set of standards regarding the accessibility of transport infrastructure and services, including aspects such as the issuing of tickets, real-time travel information and online services, so as to ensure equal and unrestricted access for people with disabilities to products and services in the transport sector;

69.

Maintains that transport infrastructures must be of such a nature as to enable people with disabilities or reduced mobility to have barrier-free access without discrimination and ensuring accessible formats (e.g. Braille, easy-to-read) to all means of transport and related services complying with the requirements of ‘design for all’, including transfer from one mode to another and at all stages of travel, from being able to book a ticket, access the platform, and board the vehicle to being able to lodge a complaint if needed;

70.

Takes the view that, although much progress has been made in the quality of assistance, there are still too many architectural barriers which prevent people with reduced mobility from fully benefiting from services, in particular as regards access to transport vehicles (planes, trains, coaches, etc); believes that carriers must improve the quality of assistance for people with disabilities or reduced mobility, and train their staff to be more aware of and capable of responding to the needs of people in those categories; stresses that such training must be carried out in cooperation with representative organisations of persons with reduced mobility and persons with disabilities;

71.

Urges carriers to take account of the needs of people with disabilities or reduced mobility in the development of any new service, notably of new means of payment such as smartphones and smart cards;

72.

Wishes to see the elimination of the abusive and/or discriminatory practices pursued by some carriers that require people with reduced mobility to be accompanied; emphasises that a carrier may not routinely require such passengers to be accompanied by another person; regarding the cases where unaccompanied people with disabilities are denied boarding on grounds of safety regulations, draws attention to the judgment handed down by the High Court of Bobigny on 13 January 2012;

73.

Is of the opinion that where it is necessary for a disabled passenger to travel accompanied, the accompanying person should travel free of charge, since that person’s presence is needed for the passenger to travel;

74.

Emphasises that, in this regard, the right to use mobility devices as well as to be accompanied by a recognised guide dog or assistance dog should be guaranteed in all circumstances;

75.

Believes that in case of travel disruption, information regarding delays or cancellations, hotel accommodation, alternative transport arrangements, reimbursement schemes and continuation or rerouting options must be communicated in formats accessible for persons with disabilities or reduced mobility;

76.

Calls for specific facilities for severely disabled passengers requiring changing and toilet facilities (so-called ‘changing places’) to be provided at no cost to the passenger at all airports in the EU having an annual passenger throughput of more than 1 000 000;

77.

Recognises that, with the entry into force of the Waterborne (8) and Bus (9) Regulations in December 2012 and March 2013 respectively, the EU will have established the first integrated area of passenger rights for all modes of transport in the world; notes that the relevant EU legislation will now need to be implemented fully in a concerted and coordinated manner by all Member States in order to transform the Union’s passenger transport policy from being strategically purely modal to being intermodal;

78.

Calls on the Commission to create new models of communication embracing passenger representative bodies, carriers and transport stakeholders, in order to promote the principle of intermodality in practice;

79.

Calls on the Member States, when applying the Rail and Bus Regulations, to make every effort to refrain from making use of derogations, in order to reduce the problems posed by intermodal travel from the point of view of passenger rights;

80.

Stresses that intermodality should be facilitated by the carriage of bicycles, wheel-chairs and prams in all modes and all services, including transborder and long-distance connections as well as high-speed trains;

81.

Calls on the Commission to create an intermodal stakeholder group to provide advisory support on issues relating to the application of the respective regulations;

82.

Urges the industry to develop a clear infrastructure which is ICT-accessible to everyone for ‘through tickets’ (i.e. transport contracts for several legs of a journey using the same mode) and integrated tickets (i.e. contracts for intermodal transport chains), with an emphasis on smart cards; draws attention in this connection to the Rail Regulation, which requires computer-assisted information and reservation systems to be adapted to common standards, so as to enable travel information and ticketing services to be organised on an EU-wide basis;

83.

Urges the Commission strongly to continue its efforts to develop a European multimodal travel planner, considered as a key element of the deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), in order to provide passengers with ‘door-to-door’ information covering both cost and duration of journeys, and calls on the Member States, together with the Commission, to remove the obstacles now existing to access to public traffic data and data transfer, without prejudice to appropriate data protection arrangements;

84.

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and Commission.