During the European Parliament’s plenary session in Strasbourg, in a debate titled “Air Passenger Rights,” Kosma Złotowski, a Law and Justice MEP, took the floor, firmly opposing attempts to weaken EU standards for the protection of air passengers.
The MEP emphasized that passenger rights cannot be treated as a financial burden on the aviation industry, but rather as a civilizational standard of which the European Union has been proud for years.
“Passenger rights are not a cost. They are a standard. The European Union has been proud of the protection it has provided to air passengers—against delays lasting many hours, flight cancellations, or denied boarding,” Kosma Złotowski noted.
The MEP rejected the argument that passenger rights are the source of airlines’ financial problems, pointing unequivocally to the effects of the EU’s climate policy.
“Today we hear that this protection must be weakened because it is costly. That is a false argument. The problem is not passenger rights, but climate policy,” he stated.
As he emphasized, it is the Green Deal that has led to an increase in airlines’ operating costs, which are then passed on to consumers.
“It is the Green Deal that is forcing airlines to seek cost savings at the expense of passengers. It is climate policy that is forcing the use of so-called sustainable aviation fuels, which are astronomically expensive,” the MEP pointed out.
Kosma Złotowski assured that Law and Justice MEPs will consistently defend passengers’ rights, while calling on the European Commission to clearly define its policy direction.
“As MEPs, we will defend passengers’ rights. But it is up to the Commission to decide: either green ideology, which kills the competitiveness of European carriers and weakens passenger protection, or abandoning the absurd and ideological ideas of the Green Deal,” he emphasized.
In conclusion, the MEP unequivocally summed up his position: “The Green Deal is killing us.”
