Fireside Chat with Daniel Mes on MDMS

On 1 August, eu travel tech hosted a fireside chat event with Daniel Mes, member of EVP Timmermans’ cabinet, on the upcoming Regulation on Multimodal Digital Mobility Services (MDMS). The MDMS Regulation has been a hot topic in Brussels over the past months, it is viewed by the Commission’s leadership as a potential ‘gamechanger’ to enable consumer convenience and sustainable travel. Nonetheless, political wrangling has taken place over the question of whether large airlines and railways should be obligated to share their data and make their tickets available through third-party travel platforms.

During the event, which was moderated by Dave Keating of France24, Daniel Mes gave an update on the current state of the file. It was highlighted that the policy options for the Regulation have now been submitted to the Regulatory Scrutiny Board, the Commission’s quality control mechanism. Previously, the Commission had favored a policy option focused entirely on “re-linking”, meaning allowing consumers to search for offers comprehensively but then linking off to railway/airlines websites to book individual tickets. Mr. Mes revealed that this stance has now been reversed as a result of discussions between Commissioners’ cabinets, no preference has been given to either “re-linking” only or “re-linking + re-selling”. According to Mr. Mes “there are many consumers for whom [re-linking only] is too complicated. These consumers want a single website to see all options and prices and to book by clicking one button”.

The opinion of the Regulatory Scrutiny Board is now being awaited and will inform the final political discussions on the topic in the Commission ahead of the publication of the proposal in October. As Mr. Mes mentioned: “Modern ticketing to fit a modern transport system is a responsibility for all and is an opportunity for all”.

Please find more information about the event and the full recording here.