The Minister of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and Agenda 2030, Pablo Bustinduy, has warned the CEO of Ryanair, Michael O'Leary, that "no pressure or insult campaign" will stop him in the application of the rule in defense of consumers.
During the press conference after the Council of Ministers, Bustinduy recalled that the sanctions imposed on five airlines, including Ryanair, for an amount of 179 million euros for charging for hand luggage have been applied "with all rigor" and "with full respect for community legislation" established by the EU.
On the same day that the CEO of Ryanair offers a press conference and after O'Leary considered these fines "invented" and "illegal", the head of Social Rights and Consumer Affairs has made it clear that he "has complied with his obligation to apply the law and defend consumers" and that he will continue to do so.
"My obligation is to defend these rights and that is what I have done and will continue to do, and no pressure or insult campaign will stop me in the application of the rule," he stressed.
Bustinduy stressed that in this issue "different interests clash", on the one hand the commercial and economic ones, and on the other the consumer's, and he reiterated that the sanctions have been imposed with all the legislative guarantees.
However, in O'Leary's opinion, the minister is violating EU regulation 1008/2008, which, in his words, "guarantees airlines the freedom to set fares as low as we want, and to establish baggage policies free from political interference."
