Q: Marlene Mizzi (S&D, MT) - Travel with animals on-board (2018-04-24)
European Legislation must strive to protect and preserve animal rights. While ideally this would be the case, there is still a stark reality that airlines take advantage of animal owners who want to travel with their pets. This can be observed through the fact that passengers are charged extra to travel with their animals on-board a plane and are charged an additional fee to keep it under the seat in front of them.
How does this qualify as humane and in observance of animal welfare standards or consumer rights?
Will the Commission clarify whether it believes that the current measures that airlines take with regard to the transport of animals are justified?
If the Commission believes they are not justified, what is it willing to do to change them?
A: Ms Bulc on behalf of the Commission (2018-06-15)
As the Commission pointed out in its answer to written question E-002032/2017, the only relevant EU rules are found in Article 10 in connection with Annex II of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2006 [1], which requires air carriers to carry recognised assistance dogs in the cabin, subject to national regulations. Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 [2] and Regulation (EC) No 2027/97 [3] do not cover cases of travelling with animals on-board. It therefore remains with the air carriers to define their conditions regarding the transport of animals on-board.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has developed a set of regulations on carriage of live animals [4] and most of the EU airlines have well defined rules on carriage of live animals on board.
The Commission has not identified the issue of the travelling with animals on-board airplanes as one that should be addressed. For the moment, it is not the intention of the Commission to propose binding measures governing commercial choices of air carriers regarding the transport of animals onboard. However, the Commission considers that air carriers must clearly announce to the passenger when booking the tickets the conditions on which animals can be transported and the applicable charges.
1 Regulation (EC) No 1107/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 July 2006 concerning the rights of disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility when travelling by air.
2 Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 February 2004 establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights, and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 295/91.
3 Regulation (EEC) No 295/91 and Council Regulation (EC) No 2027/97 of 9 October 1997 on air carrier liability in the event of accidents as modified by Regulation (EC) No 889/2002.
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