II
(Preparatory Acts)
COMMISSION
Amended proposal for a Council Directive on airport chargesØ (˛)
(98/C 319/04)
(Text with EEA relevance)
COM(1998) 509 final - 97/0127(SYN)
(Submitted by the Commission pursuant to Article 189a(2) of the EC Treaty on 14 September
1998)
(˛)ÙOJ C 257, 22.8.1997, p. 2.
ORIGINAL PROPOSAL AMENDED PROPOSAL
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Unchanged
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 84(2) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and
Social Committee,
Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the
Regions,
Acting in accordance with the procedure provided for in
Article 189c of the Treaty in cooperation with theEuropean Parliament,
1.ÙWhereas the Community has progressively
introduced a common air transport policy, inparticular for the purpose of completing the single
market, under Article 7a of the Treaty;
2.ÙWhereas the internal market comprises an area
without internal borders in which the free movement
of people, goods, services and capital is guaranteed;
2a.ÙWhereas airports constitute an important part of
infrastructure providing a service of general
interest;C 319/4 16.10.98 Official Journal of the European Communities
EN
ORIGINAL PROPOSAL AMENDED PROPOSAL
3.ÙWhereas a Community framework is needed to
ensure that fair and equitable market conditions
apply both to users and passengers and to the
owners and management bodies of airports;Unchanged
4.ÙWhereas, however, these rules must comply with the
principle of proportionality in accordance with thethird paragraph of Article 3b of the Treaty andshould therefore be limited to the laying down of
fundamental principles;
5.ÙWhereas, in addition, the administrative
management and the financial situation of thesmallest airports do not justify the application of the
Community framework;5.ÙWhereas, in addition, the administrative
management and the financial situation of the smallairports do not justify the application of the
Community framework;
6.ÙWhereas, within this market, there should be no
discrimination between intraÜCommunity flights forthe provision of equivalent services;6.ÙWhereas, within this market, there should be no
discrimination between intraÜCommunity flights forthe provision of equivalent services;
7.ÙWhereas airports may be managed as commercial
undertakings which must strive to be efficient inorder to make their activities profitable and to better
satisfy market requirements and passengers’ needs;7.ÙWhereas airports should be managed as commercial
undertakings which must strive to be efficient inorder to make their activities profitable and to better
satisfy market requirements and passengers’ needs;
8.ÙWhereas, however, within that market, airports are
exposed to limited competition;8.ÙWhereas, however, within that market, airports are
exposed to limited competition and therefore,require appropriate monitoring measures with a viewto the airports providing suitable and costÜeffective
services and facilities;
9.ÙWhereas, among their various activities, the main
task of airports is to ensure the handling of aircraftfrom landing to takeÜoff so as to enable users to
carry out their air transport business;9.ÙWhereas, among their various activities, the main
task of airports is to provide a quality service topassengers, freight and mail and attend to aircraft
from landing to takeÜoff so as to enable users to
carry out their air transport business;
10.ÙWhereas, for this purpose, airports offer a certain
number of facilities and services directly related tothe operation of aircraft, the costs of which theymust be able to cover;Unchanged
11.ÙWhereas, unlike other types of airport revenue or
charges which may be levied on users, airport
charges provide compensation for the facilities andservices provided by the airport;
12.ÙWhereas such services and facilities can, by their
nature, only be provided by the airport itself;
whereas, in view of this monopoly situation, the levelof airport charges must be in relation to the costsborne for the provision of such facilities and services,taking into consideration the objective of economic
and social cohesion;16.10.98 C 319/5 Official Journal of the European Communities
EN
ORIGINAL PROPOSAL AMENDED PROPOSAL
13.ÙWhereas an airport must also be able to cover all of
the costs required for its sound operation in terms of
efficiency, safety and the environment by modulating
the level of the charges;
14.ÙWhereas it is therefore important to ensure the
transparency of the costs to which such services orfacilities give rise; whereas, therefore, any changes
made to the system or level of airport charges must
be explained to airport users;
15.ÙWhereas, at the same time, to enable airports to
fulfil their task of managing the facilities and bettersatisfying users’ requirements, the airport’smanagement body must receive sufficient
information regarding users’ forecasts and objectives
concerning the airport;
16.ÙWhereas such changes or investment proposed by
the airport must be explained in the framework ofconsultation procedures between the managementbodies and airport users;
17.ÙWhereas the airport’s management body must be
able to retain control of the management and
funding of its facilities;
18.ÙWhereas it is necessary to take appropriate steps to
ensure that infringements of Community law carrypenalties which are effective, proportionate anddissuasive;
19.ÙWhereas this Directive should not affect the
application of the provisions of the Treaty, and in
particular Articles 85 to 94 thereof,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
Article 1
Aim and scope
The aim of this Directive is to ensure compliance with
the principles of nonÜdiscrimination, costÜrelatedness and
transparency as regards airport charges.The aim of this Directive is to ensure compliance with
the principles of nonÜdiscrimination, costÜrelatedness and
transparency as regards airport charges.
It applies to any airport or airport system located in a
territory subject to the provisions of the Treaty and opento commercial traffic. However, Articles 4 to 7 applyonly to airports with annual traffic of at least 250Ø000
passenger movements or 25Ø000 tonnes of freight.It applies to any airport or airport system located in a
territory subject to the provisions of the Treaty and opento commercial traffic. However, Articles 4 to 7 applyonly to airports with annual traffic of at least 1 million
passenger movements or 25Ø000 tonnes of freight.C 319/6 16.10.98 Official Journal of the European Communities
EN
ORIGINAL PROPOSAL AMENDED PROPOSAL
Article 2
Definitions
For the purposes of this Directive, the following defiÜ
nitions shall apply:For the purposes of this Directive, the following defiÜ
nitions shall apply:
1.Ùairport means any land specially developed for the
landing, takeÜoff and manoeuvring of aircraft,
including any related facilities it may contain for
aircraft traffic and service requirements and thefacilities needed to accommodate commercial airservices;1.Ùairport means any area of land especially adapted for
the landing, takeÜoff and manoeuvring of aircraft,
including the ancillary installations which these
operations may involve for the requirements ofaircraft traffic and services including the installationsneeded to assist commercial air services;
2.management body means the body which, whether or
not in conjunction with other activities, has the taskunder national laws or regulations of administeringand managing the airport facilities and coordinatingand controlling the activities of the various operators
present at the airport or within the airport system
concerned;2.management body means a body which, in conjunction
with other activities, or not as the case may be, has asits objective under national laws or regulations theadministration and management of the airport infraÜstructures and the coordination and control of the
activities of the different operators present in the
airport, airport system or airport network concerned;
3.intraÜCommunity air service means any commercial,
scheduled or nonÜscheduled flight between two
Community airports;3.intraÜCommunity air service means any commercial,
scheduled or nonÜscheduled flight between two
Community airports;
4.airport charges means the sums collected at an airport
for the benefit of the management body and paid by
the airport’s users ensuring the remuneration offacilities and services which, by their nature, can onlybe provided by the airport and which are related to
handling passengers and freight, landing, lighting,
parking of aircraft and, where appropriate, thesecurity of passengers as well as the environmentaleffects of handling aircraft and passengers, excludingany amounts paid for air navigation or meteorological
services;4.airport charges means the sums collected at an airport
for the benefit of the management body and paid by
the airport’s users ensuring the remuneration offacilities and services which, by their nature, can onlybe provided by the airport and which are related to
handling passengers, freight and mail, landing,
lighting, parking of aircraft and, where appropriate,the security of passengers as well as the environmentaleffects of handling aircraft, passengers, freight andmail, excluding any amounts paid for air navigation
or meteorological services;
5.airport system means two or more airports grouped
together to serve the same city or conurbation, asdefined in Article 2(m) of Council Regulation (EEC)
No 2408/92;5.Ùairport system means two or more airports grouped
together to serve the same city or conurbation, asdefined in Article 2(m) of Council Regulation (EEC)
No 2408/92;
5a.Ù airport network means a system of airports grouped
together and managed as an entity with the objectiveof promoting economic and social cohesion;
6.Ùairport user means any natural or legal person carrying
passengers, mail and/or freight by air from or to the
airport concerned.6.airport user means any natural or legal person
operating aircraft carrying passengers, mail and/or
freight by air from or to the airport concerned.16.10.98 C 319/7 Official Journal of the European Communities
EN
ORIGINAL PROPOSAL AMENDED PROPOSAL
Article 3
NonÜdiscrimination
Member States shall take the measures necessary to
ensure that the same level of airport charges is applied at
airports to equivalent intraÜCommunity air services in
terms of the aircraft type and/or characteristics, thedistance flown and/or the administrative and customsformalities.Unchanged
Article 4
CostÜrelatedness
1.ÙÚMember States shall ensure that the level of airport
charges collected at airports or in the airport systems isset in a reasonable relation to the overall cost of the
services and facilities which these charges are intended to
cover. When determining the level of such costs,particular account shall be taken of:Unchanged
(a)Ùthe cost of financing the facilities, including
depreciation in the value of the assets during theperiod concerned and the financing of any facilitiesfor which the project and the date of commencement
of the works have been duly agreed and any adminÜ
istrative permits, where appropriate, have beenissued;
(b) the financial charges;(c) the expenditure on operation and maintenance;
(d) the general administrative charges and various taxes;
(e) a reasonable return on the capital invested.
2.ÙÚWithout prejudice to the application of the
competition rules of the Treaty, the airport charges
applicable in the major national airport of a Member
State can be established at a level which permits themanagement body, in order to promote economic andsocial cohesion, to support financially the levels of
airport charges in regional airports in the same Member
State, on condition that:
(a)Ùthis financial support comes from revenue other than
the airport charges in the major airport, and/orC 319/8 16.10.98 Official Journal of the European Communities
EN
ORIGINAL PROPOSAL AMENDED PROPOSAL
(b) this support comes from airport charges, provided
that they are established in conformity with
paragraph 1, or
(c) otherwise, when the conditions referred to in points
(a) and (b) are not fulfilled and when the subsidiesgranted by public authorities are not sufficient, the
regional airports concerned have an annual traffic of
less than 300Ø000 passenger movements or 30Ø000tonnes of freight and on condition that the annualtraffic of transfer or transit passengers at the major
airport represent at least 5Ø% of the total traffic at
that airport.
3.ÙÚThe costs shall be determined using the principles
of accounting and evaluation generally accepted in each
of the Member States.
Article 5
Modulations
1.ÙÚBy derogation from Article 4, the management
bodies may include the external environmental costs dueto air traffic and modulate the charges to reflect the
requirements in terms of management of the airport
facilities or any changes in demand and use of theairport during a given period.Unchanged
Member States shall ensure that the modulations are not
designed to generate additional revenue for the airport.
2.ÙÚThe management body may also, as part of its
commercial policy,
(a)Ùtake account of all or part of its income that is not
derived from airport charges when establishing the
total level of its airport charges;
(b) grant discounts in conformity with the provisions of
the Treaty.
3.ÙÚAny modulation in the level of the airport charges
shall be applied in a transparent and nonÜdiscriminatory
manner.16.10.98 C 319/9 Official Journal of the European Communities
EN
ORIGINAL PROPOSAL AMENDED PROPOSAL
Article 6
Transparency
1.ÙÚIn order to improve the quality of the service
provided to airport users, Member States shall ensure
that the management bodies provide each airport user
with information on the components serving as a basisfor determining the level of the airport charges. Thisinformation shall include:Unchanged
(a)Ùa clear list of the various services provided by the
airport in return for the airport charge levied; and(a)Ùa clear list of the various services and infrastructure
facilities provided by the airport in return for the
airport charge levied, and
(b) the method of calculation used by the management
body.(b) the method of calculation used by the management
body.
2.ÙÚThe management body shall in particular provide
airport users or the associations representing them with
information concerning:(Deleted)
(a)Ùthe amount of each category of airport charge
collected at the airport;(c)Ùthe amount of each category of airport charge
collected at the airport;
(b) the total number of staff deployed to services which
give rise to the collection of airport charges,(d) the total number of staff deployed to services which
give rise to the collection of airport charges,
(c) forecasts of the situation at the airport as regards
airport charges, traffic growth and any proposedinvestments.(e) forecasts of the situation at the airport as regards
airport charges, traffic growth and any proposedinvestments.
3.ÙÚMember States shall ensure that airport users
submit information to the management body concerning
in particular:2.ÙÚMember States shall ensure that airport users
submit information to the management body concerning
in particular:
(a)Ùforecasts as regards traffic, (a)Ùforecasts as regards traffic,
(b) forecasts as to the composition of their fleet, (b) forecasts as to the composition of their fleet
operating at the airport concerned,
(c) their development projects at the airport, (c) their development projects at the airport,
(d) their requirements at the airport concerned. (d) their requirements at the airport concerned.
Article 7
Consultation and legal remedy
1.ÙÚMember States shall take the necessary measures to
arrange, at each airport, a procedure for consultation
between the management body and airport users. The
aim is to seek the views of airport users before thedecision to modify the system or the level of airportcharges is taken. These views do not bind the authorityresponsible for taking a decision with regard to the
airport charges.1.ÙÚThe management body at each airport, airport
system or airport network shall arrange for consultation
between the management body and airport users or
representatives of airport users. The aim is to explain tousers the reasons for any proposal to modify the systemor the level of airport charges, to seek users’ views andto take users’ views into account before any decision is
taken by the management body.C 319/10 16.10.98 Official Journal of the European Communities
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ORIGINAL PROPOSAL AMENDED PROPOSAL
These views do not bind the authority responsible for
taking a decision with regard to the airport charges.
Such consultation shall be held at least once a year. Such consultation shall be held whenever it is proposed
to vary the charges and, at all events, at least once ayear.
1a.ÙÚMember States shall also ensure that the
management body provides information relating to new
infrastructure projects prior to finalisation of plans. This
information shall be provided in order to make moniÜtoring of costs of infrastructure possible and with theview to provide suitable and costÜeffective facilities at the
airport concerned.
2.ÚÙMember States shall take the necessary steps to
ensure that an airport informs airport users or the
organisations representing them of any decision tochange the system or level of airport charges at least twomonths before the change takes effect.2.ÙÙÙMember States shall take the necessary measures to
ensure that a management body begins consultation with
airport users or representatives of airport users at leastthree months before it is proposed to change the systemor the level of airport charges. Following such consulÜ
tation, the management body shall inform airport users
or representatives of airport users of its decision and thereasons for it at least one month before the change takeseffect.
3.ÙÚMember States shall also ensure that, in the event
of disagreement over the decision, airport users are able
to request to be consulted a second time.3.ÙÚIn the event of a disagreement over a decision on
airport charges, Member States shall ensure that a party
may seek legal remedy against the decision before anational court or a public authority other than themanagement body of the airport concerned and, where
appropriate, independent of the public authority
controlling it.
Article 8
Penalties
Member States shall lay down a system of penalties
applicable in the event of infringement of the national
provisions transposing this Directive and shall take all
necessary steps to ensure their implementation. Thepenalties shall be effective, proportionate and dissuasive.Unchanged
Member States shall notify the Commission of those
provisions before 1 January 2002 and of any subsequentamendment relating thereto as soon as possible.
Article 9
Implementation
1.ÙÚMember States shall bring into force the laws,
regulations and administrative provisions necessary toconform with this Directive before 1 January 2002. They
shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof.Unchanged16.10.98 C 319/11 Official Journal of the European Communities
EN
ORIGINAL PROPOSAL AMENDED PROPOSAL
When Member States adopt these provisions, these shall
contain a reference to this Directive or shall be accomÜ
panied by such reference at the time of their official
publication. The procedure for such reference shall beadopted by Member States.
2.ÙÚMember States shall communicate to the
Commission the text of the essential provisions ofdomestic law which they adopt in the field covered by
this Directive. The Commission shall inform the other
Member States thereof.
Article 10
Report and revision
1.ÙÚThe Commission shall submit a report to the
European Parliament and the Council on the operation
of this Directive before 1 January 2004 as well as, whenappropriate, any suitable proposal.Unchanged
2.ÙÚMember States and the Commission shall cooperate
in the application of this Directive, particularly asregards the collection of information for the reportmentioned in paragraph 1.
Article 11
Entry into force
This Directive shall enter into force on the 20th day
following that of its publication in the Official Journal of
the European Communities .Unchanged
Article 12
Addressees
This Directive is addressed to the Member States. UnchangedC 319/12 16.10.98 Official Journal of the European Communities EN