The EU261 reform: what the proposed changes would mean for passengers

Where the reform stands

The Commission proposed a revision of Regulation 261/2004 in 2013; it stalled for a decade. In June 2025 the Council of the EU adopted a general approach — the member states’ negotiating position. The European Parliament must adopt its own position, and the two institutions must then agree a final text, which is published in the Official Journal with a date of application. Until that date, the current rules apply to every flight, and no airline may apply the proposed thresholds early.

What the Council proposes

The proposal also spells out re-routing duties (including on other carriers when the airline cannot re-route within a set time), the right to reimbursement of care costs the airline failed to provide, and a list of extraordinary circumstances. The exact figures and wording can still change before adoption.

What it would mean in practice

Most compensable delays today fall between 3 and 4 hours on short and medium-haul flights. Under the proposal those would no longer be compensated, while the amount on the remaining claims would change (€300 instead of €250 or €400; €500 instead of €600). Horvera’s regression suite, which runs every legal scenario through both rulesets, shows that a majority of today’s scenarios would produce a different outcome under the draft.

How Horvera handles the transition

The rules engine selects the ruleset by flight date. The current EU261 ruleset is active; the reform is modelled as a separate, inactive ruleset with no effective date. When the amending regulation is published, the effective date is set, and flights before that date keep today’s rules. Results always name the ruleset version and its sources.

UK and Switzerland

UK261 is separate law: an EU reform does not change it unless the UK legislates. Switzerland applies the Regulation through the Air Transport Agreement and would need to adopt the amended text into the agreement.