Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, if safety were to be held constant at the 1996 level, this could result in a serious accident every week by 2015. It is in these terms that our explanatory documents once again underline the importance of the Commission's proposal for a directive. Safety in the aviation sector has never been so relevant. In the run-up to the momentous anniversary of 11 September, safety in aviation is of primary concern to the majority of users. This should not be the safety of our own European aircraft, but that of third-country aircraft as well. This is why this proposal that is now being raised within the framework of the proposals, that have also been expanded on by my fellow MEPs in their various reports on the open sky, is of extreme importance. The Commission has already re-opened the procedure for issuing a directive on the safety of third-country aircraft. It is, in fact, tragic that the procedure surrounding this directive was stopped, for it was as good as completed in 1997, but was, due to a dispute that arose between Spain and Great Britain over Gibraltar, relegated to the back-burner at the time. Fortunately, we can now count on large-scale unanimity, although I regret that the matter is still being dealt with at Member-State level and that the Member States' continuing control over the procedures means that the way in which the inspections are carried out still leaves something to be desired. The need for a Community safety policy, however, is, in my view, beyond dispute. We cannot fail to observe that the accident figures vary widely across different regions and continents across the world. Airlines based in Africa, Asia and South and Central America have accident rates at least twice as high as the world average. We in Western Europe and Australia can count our blessings with the lowest accident rates, whereas Eastern European countries have the highest accident rate, nearly 50 times higher than in Western Europe. To think that we are facing this massive EU enlargement and that, consequently, there is a greater risk of safety levels falling in our countries too. Moreover, just as aviation users cross borders, safety should not be tied down to national borders either. Frequently occurring problems can be ascribed to inadequate primary aviation legislation, and the lack of institutional structures, qualified staff and financial resources. Recent accidents have demonstrated that an inadequate command of aviation’s official language, English, can have tragic consequences. Suffice for me to remind you of a few serious accidents, one in France and one in Italy, which were both directly the result of the fact that the aviation staff did not have a sufficient command of English, the official language. Other shortcomings can also have major consequences. In 25% of the cases involving third-country aircraft, the flight manuals or navigation maps are missing, or the Global Positioning Systems are not sufficiently updated. Coordinated action accompanied by exchange of information that allows for early identification of possible defects in aircraft is preferable to working with national measures. In that way, Member States can fall back on the EU's common position with regard to third countries to prevent unsafe aircraft from being re-routed to airports in neighbouring Member States where such inspections are not carried out. Specific elements in our report relate to the fact that people living in the vicinity of airports can lodge complaints about aircraft safety and that they can also obtain information about the lack of safety of some aircraft that fly into their local airports. The people of Ostend will welcome approval of this section. The Commission, however, is less than forthcoming on this score. I should like to emphasise that there is no room for discrimination. Aircraft from the EU should be inspected according to the same strict rules as third-country aircraft. Since the events of 11 September, we must take more account of the safety of those living in the vicinity of airports and approach routes. Furthermore, and I should like to finish on this note, we need to prevent privatisations in the aviation sector, and particularly privatisations in the safety field, from undermining this very safety, because that is probably when corners will once again be cut. I hope that cutting back on safety, which became so apparent in Überlingen, will not have fatal consequences. (Applause)

Political group: Verts-ALE