Attempts to reduce passenger rights face German-led opposition – but we are far from relieved

The attempt to restart a long-delayed update of the Aircraft Regulation meets eleventh hour resistance from a group of countries.

The Polish presidency hoped to make progress on the legislation, which has been dormant since 2013, but a text negotiated over the past few months apparently did not receive enough support during a meeting of EU ambassadors on Wednesday, May 28, 2025.

You are currently entitled to flight compensation of €250, €400 or €600 (depending on how far you have to fly) if you arrive with a delay of 3 hours or more.

However, in 2013, the European Commission proposed raising the minimum delay compensation limit to 5 hours for all flights within the EU (up to 3,500 km), 9 hours for flights of 3,500-6,000 km and 12 hours for flights over 6,000 km. However, the proposal has never really progressed.

Against this background, the Polish Presidency has proposed a “compromise” that “only” increases the minimum delay to 4 and 6 hours (for flights up to 3,500 km within the EU and 6 hours for flights over 3,500 km, respectively), while reducing flight compensation to €300-500, depending on the length of the flight.

At a meeting of ambassadors on Wednesday, it became clear that Germany has assembled a coalition of countries with enough weight to form a blocking minority. These countries want to maintain the current 3-hour delay limit, but at the same time propose to limit the amount passengers can receive to €300.

Poland is therefore now trying to reach an agreement with a number of skeptical countries, such as Germany, France and Spain, on a revised text that can gain sufficient support at the next ambassadors’ meeting the day after tomorrow, June 4, 2025, and then at the Transport Council meeting on Thursday, June 5, 2025.

However, with the compensation limit at the heart of the dispute, some diplomats believe that reaching an agreement will not be easy.

“The Polish proposal is balanced. Changing the compensation limit to 3 hours will make the other compromises reached on the text fall apart,” says an EU diplomat.

A coalition of consumer rights groups, like the Airline Advocate, believe that the 3-hour limit has become a cornerstone of passenger protection and that extending it is a completely unacceptable step back from the current level of protection.

At the Transport Council meeting on Thursday, it will also be discussed whether the usual legislative procedure should be followed, so that the European Parliament must be consulted on any adopted amendment, or whether the Council will follow the so-called “consent procedure”/”first reading” (where the European Parliament cannot make amendments, but can only say yes or no).

It is the opinion of the Airline Lawyer that not following the usual legislative procedure would result in a severe interference in the protection of air passengers in case of cancellations or delays, as it is usually the European Parliament that protects passengers’ interests. The European Parliament should therefore play a much more active role in the work on the revision of the Aviation Regulation than the Council is currently proposing.

The aviation lawyer provides important input to both Danish and European politicians, including Elissavet Vozemberg-Vrionidi, who is the strong voice of consumers in the European Parliament.

You can keep up to date with the legislative work in the EU here in the blog.