ITALIAN LEGISLATIVE PROVISIONS 167 3. EU COMMISSION GUIDELINES On 18 March, the European Commission felt the need to issue Interpretative guidelines on EU passenger rights regulations in the context of the developing situation with COVID-199. The guidelines complement the ones previously issued by the Commission and are specified as being without prejudice to the interpretation of the Court of Justice. These interpretative guidelines aim at clarifying how certain provisions of the EU passenger rights legislation apply in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak, notably concerning cancellations and delays10. However, the Commission reminded that EU’s passenger rights regulations do not address situations in which the passengers cannot travel or want to cancel a trip on their initiative. Those situations are the ones currently regulated by Art. 88bis, paragraph 3. As a matter of fact, whether a passenger is reimbursed in such cases depends on the type of ticket (reimbursable, possibility to rebook) as specified in the carrier's terms and conditions. The Commission also acknowledges the fact that various carriers are offering vouchers to passengers, who do not want to (or are not authorised to) travel any more as a result of the outbreak of the coronavirus, and confirms that passengers can use these vouchers for another trip with the same carrier within a timeframe established by the carrier. Therefore, Art. 88bis, paragraph 3 does not constitute a violation of the Regulation in this respect, given that the decision or the need for passengers to renounce to the flight is not covered by the regulation itself. Here are the words of the Commission: “In some cases, specific national rules have been adopted in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak, which creates the obligation for carriers to refund passengers or issue a voucher to passengers in case the passenger could not take a flight that has been operated. 9 Commission Notice. Interpretative Guidelines on EU passenger rights regulations in the context of the developing situation with Covid-19, www.ec.europa.eu. 10 The issue of compensation will not be addressed in this paper since it does not constitute an issue. As a matter of fact, it is known that Regulation No. 261/2004 also provides for fixed sum compensations in some circumstance, which does not apply to cancellations made more than two weeks in advance or where the cancellation is caused by 'extraordinary circumstances' that could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken, as provided for in Article 5(1) and Article 7 of the Regulation. The Commission considers that, where public authorities take measures aimed to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, such measures are, by their nature and origin, not inherent in the normal exercise of the activity of carriers and are outside their actual control. Therefore, they constitute an extraordinary circumstance, excluding the right to compensation. See the Guidelines on this specific issue.
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