Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the airline industry has become a growing as well as a thriving industry within the Union. This undoubtedly brings many benefits, but there are also many drawbacks. I would like to make it clear straight away that, if Europe does not intervene, aspects such as quality of life, the economy and social factors will very much be in the balance. The key question is, do we want our citizens to enjoy a good night’s rest, and even day’s rest and, secondly, are we able to give them just that? If you will allow me, I will dwell for a moment on the problem of noise pollution suffered at my own country’s national airport, an airport which, by the way, many of you frequent very regularly. The noise pollution at Zaventem has exceeded the permitted levels for a long time. The quality of life – and sleep – of the people living in the vicinity is appalling by any standard. The solution to this problem has caused great uproar in Belgium and in my government. As you know, the Belgian Government embraces people from the blue, green and red sections of the political spectrum. Well, when the green Minister had the audacity to propose a complete night ban, all of a sudden, Belgium was not big enough for the fierce discussion which followed. Commissioner, you may be red and green in your heart, and I can assure, this is what I am. I too want to continue to promote life and the quality of everyone’s existence as the supreme good. This is all well and good on paper, but this can be very difficult to implement in practice. What is worse? Having a very difficult or bad night’s sleep, day in day out, or suddenly losing your job and your income? Indeed, the parcel company at Zaventem had threatened hundreds, if not many more, redundancies. All of a sudden, the trade union and employers joined forces. Belgium has meanwhile come up with a solution: a combination of measures which involves a restriction of noise at source, strict supervisory measures and a number of infrastructural planning measures, such as offering insulation to the houses affected. It is an improvement, but not a solution. Too many people continue to suffer from excessive noise in their bedrooms. Nonetheless, Belgium, in tandem with other Member States, has taken on a pioneering role in this discussion and the question is then, will that country, with its businesses and people who work and live there, suffer as a result? We can only avoid this if night flights and noise pollution are tackled at European level. This is, in fact, what we are asking for and I am delighted to see that people of all political persuasions in this Parliament are asking for the same thing. I therefore hope that the Commission will be receptive to this. Europe will need to resolve the false dilemma that exists of having to choose between the economy and social and environmental considerations. We would like a standardised method to measure noise pollution within the Union. In this connection, we would also like uniform standards and an effective costing rule. In addition, we would like criteria which determine when a night ban should be instituted within the Union. In a recent communication from the Commission on air transport and the environment, an initial strategy has already been outlined. This is to be welcomed, but it is not enough. Firstly, this does not solve the current problem, as Mr Lannoye has already pointed out. Secondly, this is simply a communication, but we want hard legislation from the Commission, so that everyone knows where they stand. I regret that the Commissioner – the Commissioner who is standing in for Commissioner de Palacio that is – is of the opinion that it is very difficult to institute a night ban. I think that, with a little good will, this should be feasible. I am looking forward to her reply.

Political group: PSE