A number of Transport Ministers of EU members are claiming that Brussels lawmakers were seeking to bankrupt small ferry companies. A number of maritime member nations of the EU are angered by planned legislation for compensating ferry and cruise passengers for delayed or cancelled journeys and are upset that their protests have been ignored by Sweden, which currently holds the EU presidency.
At a recent EU Transport Ministers meeting in Luxembourg discussions centred around planned legislation to pay compensation and accommodation costs to ferry passengers of up to €120, a move which was strongly contested by Greece, Italy and Malta. The Maltese delegate said the ‘such a proposal was a way of bankrupting small companies. The Italians said that ‘the ferry industry should not be regulated along the same lines as the airline industry because of the small distances involved. However, Sweden brushed aside these arguments, declaring that the council had come to ‘a political agreement.’ This is diplomatic speak meaning that the maritime nations had been outvoted under the EU’s qualified majority voting rules. Good to see continuing harmony among the European neighbours!
