Hayes welcomes European Commission’s commitment to address extensive car hire complaints across EU

Fine Gael MEP for Dublin, Brian Hayes, today welcomed a commitment he has received from the European Commission to address the extensive number of complaints made each year against car hire companies across the EU.

“Since taking up my seat in the European Parliament, I have received several complaints from constituents concerning the hiring of cars abroad. The transport sector is one of main areas of cross border complaints made by European consumers. Problems in car rental services feature on the top of the complaints lists. These problems range from data protection matters to hidden fees and excess insurance costs.

“I recently had the opportunity to raise this matter with Commissioner Mimica who is responsible for Consumer Protection who informed me that the Commission had met with the industry to identify the main issues affecting consumers across Europe when renting a car and to discuss how to address them. Extensive progress has been made and over the coming months practices should be put in place to eliminate the issues identified as unfair and misleading.

“I strongly welcome the progress made to date. It is clear that there are extensive issues relating to car hire across the EU. The steps taken so far by the Commission will hopefully have a positive impact for consumers.”