3. Final remark
54. Before concluding my analysis, I think it of interest to point out that, as EU law currently stands, the Member States exercise the discretion afforded to them under Article 16 of Regulation No 261/2004.
55. As demonstrated by a comparative analysis of the different national laws, (4 1)
the Member
States involve in that procedure not only their national bodies and the national courts, but also consumer protection bodies and bodies with powers in the field of alternative dispute resolution for consumer disputes (42) and the settlement of small claims.
56. Some Member States have chosen to designate their national civil aviation authority as the national body responsible for enforcing Regulation No 261/2004, (43) while others have preferred to entrust that task to their national consumer protection authority, which may then be responsible for ensuring enforcement of the regulations on the rights of air passengers as well as of passengers travelling by rail, sea or land. (44) Similarly, some Member States have entrusted their national body responsible for enforcing that regulation with the task of ensuring that it is properly applied in the general interest of passengers, which may include supervisory tasks (by means of, for example, on-the- spot inspections or audits), monitoring tasks (monitoring information published or communicated by the air carrier to passengers in order to correct wrong, misleading or incomplete information), the drawing up of activity reports, exchanges of information, and cross-border cooperation with other national bodies. Some Member States allow those bodies to examine and handle individual complaints from passengers so as to safeguard their right to compensation, or empower them to conduct alternative dispute resolution procedures. (45)
57. Lastly, I would like to point out that the discretion granted to Member States for the protection of air passengers’ rights is also afforded to them in the regulations on the protection of the rights of disabled air passengers and passengers travelling by rail, by sea or by bus and coach. Those regulations lay down a typology of comparable rights (rights to information, reimbursement, re-routing, care while waiting prior to travel and compensation under certain conditions). Regardless of the mode of transport involved, the EU legislature requires Member States to designate ‘a body or bodies’ responsible for enforcing the regulation concerned and adopting the measures necessary to ensure that the rights of
passengers are respected. (4 6)
The EU legislature establishes that requirement in almost identical
terms (47) and none of the legislative instruments adopted recently reveals any intention on its part to regulate the nature of the powers conferred on the national body more strictly or to limit their scope. On the contrary, in the context of Regulation No 2021/782, which is the most recent and most precise instrument for protecting passengers’ rights, the EU legislature also allows the national body to act as an alternative dispute resolution body for consumer disputes in accordance with Directive 2013/11. (48)
58. In the light of the foregoing considerations, I propose that the Court give the following answer to the question submitted by the Fővárosi Törvényszék (Budapest High Court, Hungary):