As the summer holidays draw near, EU citizens are set to benefit from two moves approved by the European Parliament this month. The first is designed to make it easier for car drivers to make a claim in the event of an accident while travelling abroad; the second seeks to protect air passengers bumped off flights because of overbooking. The first proposal will be of particular benefit to Irish and British drivers since the intention is for the UK and Ireland to fall in line with the rest of the EU, allowing drivers involved in a dispute to take direct action against the opposing party's insurance company. Help will also be on hand with the establishment of information centres to sort out problems from the estimated 500,000 accidents a year likely to be affected by the new legislation.
Welcoming the move, Bernie Malone (Dublin, PES) commented: "This Directive will greatly benefit people involved in traffic accidents while on holidays in other European countries. While this Directive won't solve all of their problems, it will mean that making a claim against someone in another country for an accident that took place in a third country won't be as difficult as it is at present."
As far as overbooking is concerned, under the new legislation airlines will be obliged to pay compensation to passengers denied a place on the plane. It should range from Ecu 185 to Ecu 370, depending on the length of the flight.