Representatives from the Council and the European Parliament meeting in Conciliation Committee on 30 November, reached an agreement on a proposal for a regulation on the rights of bus and coach passengers. Compensation for delays or damaged luggage as well as protection of disabled passengers will be key features of this new legislation, which now needs to be endorsed by majority at the Parliament plenary session and by the qualified majority within the Council.

The text on which an agreement was found in the Conciliation Committee about bus passengers rights regulation provides for application of the regulation to all regular services for non-specified categories of passengers with a scheduled distance of more than 250 kilometres, which means that passengers only travelling a part of such a long-distance service are also covered.  To secure an agreement between negotiators, the Parliament's initial demand to set the minimal distance to 500 kilometres was lowered.

This regulation proposed by the European Commission in December 2008 seeks to give bus and coach passengers rights comparable to those existing in other modes of transport. It is part of a general EU policy to ensure equal treatment of passengers, regardless of the mode of transport chosen, while reinforcing passenger rights, with particular attention paid to non-discrimination against persons with disabilities or reduced mobility. Similar legislation has already been adopted for transport by air, rail and maritime passengers.

Main elements of bus passengers rights draft legislation

• Compensation in the event of accidents for death or injury of passengers as well as for loss of or damage to their luggage: minimum amounts are set in the regulation of 220.000 Euro per passenger, and 1.200 Euro per item of luggage.
• Non-discrimination and assistance concerning disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility: they must not be refused transport except for safety reasons or for lack of necessary infrastructure. No extra charge must be asked.
• Passenger rights in the event of cancellation or delay: where a journey is cancelled, delayed for more than two hours or overbooked, carriers must offer a choice between continuation of the journey or re-routing or else reimbursement; if they fail to do so, the passenger has a right to compensation amounting to half of the ticket price, in addition to the reimbursement.

A transitional exemption of four years, renewable once, may be granted for particular regular transport links with countries outside the EU, as well as for domestic regular services. The latter, however, must in any case comply with the rules mentioned above applicable to all regular services irrespective of the distance of the journey. Occasional services are subject to the rules on compensation and assistance in the event of accidents and on compensation for the loss of or damage to mobility equipment, but not to the other provisions.