17.12.2010 Official Journal of the European Union L 3341 (Legislative acts) REGULATIONS REGULATION (EU) No 1177/20 10 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 24 November 2010 concerning the rights of passengers when travelling by sea and inland waterway and amending Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 (Text with EEA relevance) THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EURO- PEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Articles 91(1) and 100(2) thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (1), After consulting the Committee of the Regions, Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure (2), Whereas: (1) Action by the Union in the field of maritime and inland waterway transport should aim, among other things, at ensuring a high level of protection for passengers that is comparable with other modes of transport. Moreover, full account should be taken of the requirements of consumer protection in general. (2)  Since the maritime and inland waterway passenger is the weaker party to the transport contract, all passengers () O] C 317, 23.12.2009, p. 89. (?) Position of the European Parliament of 23 April 2009 (O] C 184 E, 8.7.2010, p. 293), position of the Council at first reading of 11 March 2010 (OJ C 122 E, 11.5.2010, p. 19), position of the European Par- liament of 6 July 2010 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and decision of the Council of 11 October 2010. should be granted a minimum level of protection. Noth- ing should prevent carriers from offering contract condi- tions more favourable for the passenger than the conditions laid down in this Regulation. At the same time, the aim of this Regulation is not to interfere in commer- cial business-to-business relationships concerning the transport of goods. In particular, agreements between a road haulier and a carrier should not be construed as trans- port contracts for the purposes of this Regulation and should therefore not give the road haulier or its employees the right to compensation under this Regulation in the case of delays. (3)  The protection of passengers should cover not only pas- senger services between ports situated in the territory of the Member States, but also passenger services between such ports and ports situated outside the territory of the Member States, taking into account the risk of distortion of competition on the passenger transport market. Therefore the term ‘Union carrier’ should, for the purposes of this Regulation, be interpreted as broadly as possible, but with- out affecting other legal acts of the Union, such as Council Regulation (EEC) No 4056/86 of 22 December 1986 lay- ing down detailed rules for the application of Articles 85 and 86 of the Treaty to maritime transport (3) and Council Regulation (EEC) No 3577/92 of 7 December 1992 apply- ing the principle of freedom to provide services to mari- time transport within Member States (maritime cabotage) (4. () OJ L 378,31.12.1986, p. 4. () OJ L 364,12.12.1992, p. 7.