A4-0012/95

Resolution on the Commission communication on the way forward for civil aviation in Europe

The European Parliament,

- having regard to its previous resolutions and reports on a common transport policy in the field of civil aviation,

- having regard to its resolution of 16 November 1993 on air transport relations with third countries ((OJ C 329, 6.12.1993, p. 72.)),

- having regard to the 'Expanding Horizons' report of January 1994, submitted by the Committee of Wise Men on air transport set up by the Commission,

- having regard to its resolution of 9 March 1994 on that report ((OJ C 91, 28.3.1994, p. 51.)),

- having regard to its opinion of 22 April 1994 on the modified proposal for a Council decision on a consultation and authorization procedure for agreements concerning commercial aviation relations between Member States and third countries ((OJ C 128, 9.5.1994, p. 512.)),

- having regard to the Commission communication on the way forward for civil aviation in Europe (COM(94)0218),

- having regard to the Council resolution of 24 October 1994 on this subject ((OJ C 309, 5.11.1994, p. 2.)),

- having regard to the relevant provisions of its Rules of Procedure,

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Transport and Tourism and the opinions of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and Industrial Policy and the Committee on Research, Technological Development and Energy (A4-0012/95),

A. having regard to the significance of the civil aviation sector in the European economy, its importance for employment and its role in achieving the full integration of citizens into a single area without frontiers,

B. having regard to the importance of the civil aviation sector for Europe's links with the rest of the world,

C. mindful of the civil aviation industry's links with other economic activities such as the aeronautics industry, tourism and airports,

D. having regard to the important role of air transport in strengthening economic and social cohesion by providing rapid and efficient links between regions, particularly access to peripheral and island regions, thus reducing the geographical distance between the centre and periphery,

E. having regard to the essential role of the public service in the air transport sector,

F. having regard to the problems to which the air transport sector has been subject, particularly as a result of the Gulf crisis, and to the resulting economic hardship experienced by airlines, whose causes lie not merely in the recession, but also in structural factors,

G. having regard to the current conditions of high running costs under which airlines operate,

H. whereas a considerable part of these running costs, as well as charges for using air transport infrastructure, are not directly dependent on the actions of the airlines' managing bodies but are primarily due to the lack of a single air traffic control and management system,

I. whereas a Community civil aviation policy must seek to establish a just balance between the various existing interests - airlines, workers and users - and also between the national and regional interests of the Community, so as to ensure that the sector develops in a balanced and harmonious manner,

J. whereas current Community legislation - the so-called Third Aviation Package of measures to liberalize air transport - contains a range of safeguard measures which, under specific circumstances and taking account of specific needs, allow for intervention by the Member States and Commission,

K. whereas this legislation provides for public service obligations necessary for the maintenance of adequate air services to island and peripheral regions,

L. having regard to the differences which exist between the various Member States in fiscal, financial, social and labour legislation applicable to the air transport industry,

M. whereas this de facto situation of continued large-scale fragmentation of the Community market makes it extraordinarily difficult to implement a common strategy to support European airlines in worldwide competition,

N. whereas inadequate infrastructure, both in the air and on the ground, seriously compromises the objectives of the single market and gravely prejudices the sector's development,

O. having regard to the forecast annual growth rate of 5% to 6% for air transport over the next 10 to 15 years,

P. whereas the growth of air transport is also resulting in an increase in transport operations on land, which has serious implications for the quality of life and the environment in many areas that are already (badly) affected,

1. Notes the submission of the communication on the way forward for civil aviation in Europe, and on the basis of this document, urges the Commission to submit a multiannual legislative framework programme containing the priority measures to be adopted and to establish a timetable for their implementation; the framework programme should be implemented by means of annual programmes;

2. Asserts that there is a need to pursue the drawing up and implementation of a Community policy in the air transport sector, in order truly to complete a genuine internal market within a framework of free and fair competition between airlines, which will also contribute to the development of strong, competitive and efficient civil aviation in Europe;

3. Considers that the complete effectiveness of the internal market and a development-orientated infrastructure policy, on the basis of common guidelines, should constitute priorities for Community action in the European civil aviation sector;

4. Considers that the maintenance of high levels of safety and of respect for the environment must constitute a fundamental objective of Community action in the civil aviation sector; deplores the relative unambitiousness of the Commission's proposals in these spheres and demands that these factors be taken into account in the legislative proposals submitted by the Commission;

5. Deplores the fact that the liberalization policy pursued hitherto by the Community has not been accompanied by any assessment of its economic and social impact on employment and working conditions or on the quality of the services provided to the consumer; calls on the Commission to draw up a study of these issues as a matter of the greatest urgency;

6. Asserts that the harmonization measures which should be adopted in this sector should take appropriate account of the criteria of cost-benefit analysis and of the social and safety implications;

SAFETY

7. Recalls its belief that a Community Civil Aviation Authority should be set up, with powers to deal with safety matters in the field of air transport, including the issuing of air-worthiness certificates, air-traffic control and vocational training in the civil aviation sector;

8. Believes that it is essential in the short term to tighten up the rules on harmonization, particularly air-worthiness certificates and aircraft cabin maintenance and safety standards; whereas this task should be carried out in close collaboration with existing international bodies;

9. Calls on the Commission, bearing in mind the recent adoption of Council Directive 94/56/EC of 21 November 1994 laying down the fundamental principles governing the investigation of civil aviation accidents and incidents ((OJ L 319, 12.12.1994, p. 14.)), to submit proposals concerning:

- the creation in each Member State of mandatory incident-reporting systems and of a Community system coordinating these national databases;

- the creation of a voluntary confidential incident-reporting system;

INFRASTRUCTURE POLICY

10. Reiterates what it has already said in previous resolutions to the effect that what is required in order to achieve rational management of the Community air space, which will meet the safety, efficiency, financial and traffic-flow needs of air traffic, is a single air traffic control and management system covering the whole of the Community air space, controlled by a single Community civil aviation authority;

11. Takes note of the Commission's proposal on the Community guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network (COM(94)0106), its importance for airports, especially for the island airports, and its priorities for action for the airports of common interest that are included in this proposal;

12. Stresses the need for air space to be recognized as forming an important part of the trans-European transport networks and welcomes the fact that it was recognized as a priority by the Summit of Heads of State and Government in Essen;

13. Recognizes the short-term need to continue the work on harmonization and integration in order to make the different air traffic control (ATC) systems in the Member States compatible and to use a Community instrument to coordinate the programming of ATC centres in the Member States of the European Union;

14. Stresses the urgent need for the Commission to submit a strategic plan for achieving a single system, in which the political, legal, institutional, technical and scientific problems posed by creating such a system are clarified once and for all;

15. Recommends to the Member States, in keeping with its resolution of 27 September 1994 on air traffic control (ATC) in Europe ((OJ C 305, 31.10.1994, p. 24.)), and also to Eurocontrol, to the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) and to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), that in order to avoid disruptions such as those that occurred last summer in the Aix-en-Provence air traffic control centre, they should take steps to reassign air traffic routes and grant special priority to air traffic to and from islands;

ACCESS TO THE MARKET

16. Asks the Member States and the national civil aviation authorities to speed up the coherent implementation of the rules on access for Community air carriers to intra-Community air routes contained in Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2408/92 of 23 July 1992 ((OJ L 240, 24.8.1992, p. 8.));

17. Asks these authorities, in this connection, to enforce the rules on market access and traffic rights in a transparent way and without discriminating between air carriers to allow multiple designation, fifth freedom traffic rights and the phasing-in of cabotage rights in order to stimulate the development of the sector and improve services for users;

18. Asks the Commission to examine carefully the decision of the Member States on market access to ensure that they respect the non-discriminatory rules contained in the Community legislation;

19. Considers that, on the basis of the above, the Commission should act if necessary in order to prevent any special treatment of national flag carriers and to ensure open and fair competition in this sector;

AIRPORTS

20. Asks the Commission to submit proposals which will guarantee complete transparency of airport and air traffic control costs and charges; considers it essential, so as to avoid an unbalanced process liable to produce an airport investment crisis, to determine the most suitable means of reconciling the requirements of liberalization aimed at increasing competitiveness in the airports sector with the obligations of airport operators to provide public utility services;

21. Notes the Commission's intention to 'take an initiative aimed at opening up ground-handling services at Community airports', and welcomes the choice of Article 84 of the EC Treaty as the legal basis;

22. Believes, furthermore, that account must be taken of the impact of the liberalization in question on employment and safety and that, in this connection, uniform personnel qualification and safety standards must be applied to all ground-handling service providers;

23. Recommends that the Commission and Council take steps to encourage airport authorities to standardize their financial accounts, so that they can be presented on a comparable basis;

24. Requests that, without awaiting the date of 1 January 1996, the Commission should examine the actual application of Regulation (EEC) No. 95/93 on common rules for the allocation of slots at Community airports ((OJ L 14, 22.1.1993, p. 1.)) and should report to Parliament on the adjustment of these rules in the light of the capacities generated by the single market;

25. Considers that the development of interregional scheduled air services and the existence of a network of efficient and competitive air services between the Union's peripheral and island regions and its central regions would make a significant contribution to the economic and social development of the least developed regions of the Union;

26. Requests the Member States and the Commission, in this regard, to adopt the necessary measures to develop routes from and to regional airports, the necessary frequency of flights on these routes permitting, if necessary, in conformity with Community legislation, the adoption of temporary protection measures along these routes, agreements for the joint operation between air carriers in order to safeguard these connections and the introduction of public service obligations;

27. Calls on the Commission to carry out a study at the earliest opportunity into Community airports at risk and to draw up suitable measures for harmonizing minimum safety standards for airports;

STATE AIDS

28. Notes the recommendations of the Committee of Wise Men in this area; agrees in principle with the recommendations that any request must be accompanied by a global restructuring plan, that independent experts must carry out an assessment and that the implementation of the plan in question must be strictly monitored;

29. Calls attention, with regard to the issue of privatization mentioned in the recommendations, to Article 222 of the Treaty, which lays down a Community principle of neutrality regarding the system of property ownership and also refers to the case-law of the Court of Justice which established the principle of equality between public and private undertakings;

30. Expresses regret that the Commission communication approved on 16 November 1994 on the application of Articles 92 and 93 of the Treaty to aid granted by Member States in the aviation sector has not been forwarded to Parliament for its opinion;

31. Believes that the best form of guaranteeing transparent Community intervention and achieving the objectives of a future common transport policy as defined in the White Paper on transport would be to adopt a Council regulation, pursuant to Article 94 of the Treaty, clearly laying down the criteria governing the compatibility of state aid and common market principles;

32. Calls on the Commission to consult Parliament on its revised guidelines in this sector;

33. Warns of the danger of concealed state aid to which the differences between national social and tax legislation give rise;

34. Believes that the competitive advantage of air transport compared with other forms of transport partly hinges on the fact that excise duty is not paid on aviation fuel;

35. Believes that the competitive position on the international scene of the European Union's air transport sector is being affected by certain practices engaged in by third countries which grant special facilities to their companies;

36. Reiterates that financial support from a Member State for restructuring air carriers can only be accepted if it does not distort or threaten to distort competition;

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

37. Stresses the importance of granting ongoing powers to the Community with regard to external relations in the air transport sector, and, in this connection, disagrees with the Council's attitude; believes that any Commission initiative to open negotiations with third countries on civil aviation issues under the aegis of Community legislation must be based on Articles 84 and 228 of the Treaty; recalls Opinion 1/94 of the European Court of Justice of 15 November 1994 on the GATT, which rules out the application of Article 113 of the Treaty to the air transport sector;

38. Considers that the allocation of responsibility to the Commission in the field of external policy requires a prior agreement between the Commission, the Council and Parliament as regards the basic guidelines of the policy which is to be pursued in this area;

39. Calls on the Commission to give absolute priority to drawing up a catalogue identifying the European air transport industry's points of common interest in its relations with the United States of America, with particular reference to competition rules, codes of conduct for computerized reservation systems, traffic rights and the allocation of timetable slots;

40. Calls on the Commission to take appropriate legal action in the event of any Member State concluding agreements with third countries which affect or may affect the aviation policy or economic interests of the European Union;

41. Calls on the Commission to give consideration to the existing political options with a view to cancelling the discriminatory political clauses to be found in bilateral agreements;

42. Asks that the Commission be mandated, on the basis of the existing cooperation agreements, to draw up negotiating directives with a view to concluding agreements with the United States, the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, Switzerland, Malta, Cyprus and Turkey in the field of civil aviation;

43. Insists that in negotiations on traffic rights the Commission should seek to obtain for Community carriers cabotage rights in third countries which are equivalent to those exercised by carriers of these countries within the Community;

44. Calls on the Member States to delegate the necessary powers to the Commission to enable it to represent the Community as a full member of international civil aviation organizations;

SOCIAL ASPECTS

45. Stresses that 10 000 jobs have been lost since 1990 and that the 'survival' of the air transport sector and restructuring plans could lead to further job losses in the short to medium term;

46. Regrets the fact that the social problems arising from the above circumstances for those employed in the air transport sector have elicited only general statements of principle from the Commission, with no concrete action plans having been proposed;

47. Is concerned about the possible damage to the health of air crews due to their frequent exposure to pressure problems, high radiation levels and very high CO2 concentrations on long flights, and invites the Commission to carry out a study of the problem and make suitable proposals for protecting the health of these people should the study confirm that the risks exist;

48. Believes it essential that existing Community initiatives and funds be applied to the redeployment and retraining of persons working in the civil aviation sector;

49. Observes that the sole existing directive (Directive 91/670/EEC) on mutual acceptance of personnel licences for the exercise of functions in civil aviation ((OJ L 373, 31.12.1991, p. 21.)) is frequently infringed; asks the Commission to adopt such measures as may be necessary to enforce compliance therewith;

50. Calls on the Commission to submit as soon as possible proposals on common requirements as regards professional qualifications so that training will qualify people to exercise their profession in all the Member States;

51. Considers, with regard to the controversial question of flying hours and rest periods for crews, as well as working and rest periods for other staff, that the harmonization to be carried out in this area must be based on social dialogue with all the groups concerned and on strict respect for safety requirements;

52. Considers that it would be useful to carry out a study on the possible establishment of a Community register of airline companies, in order to prevent the problems resulting from the use of 'flags of convenience'; to this end calls on the Commission to carry out immediately a detailed analysis of the possible consequences of the use, in this sector, of human resources from third countries, placing particular emphasis on the social implications and the repercussions on safety aspects;

ENVIRONMENT

53. Welcomes the Commission's announcement of the forthcoming publication of a consultation paper assessing the need to apply stricter limits to gaseous emissions and noise pollution caused by aircraft; in this connection, calls for Category II aircraft to be withdrawn from service as soon as possible;

54. Proposes that research be undertaken, from a multilateral perspective, into means of reducing gaseous emissions by aircraft in the very sensitive higher atmosphere (above 12 km), in order to avoid worsening of the greenhouse effect and other damage by aircraft to the global environment;

55. Believes that the effects of the constant growth of air transport in relation to the generally acknowledged need for sustainable development should be studied in the near future, with particular reference to ways of reducing air transport over short and medium distances by pursuing appropriate forms of pricing policy and providing high-quality systems of public land transport (high-speed trains, underground trains, etc.);

56. Calls for harmonization and strengthening of legislation governing aircraft noise in areas adjacent to airports, including legislation on night flights and military flights with a view to reducing the damage caused by noise;

57. Calls on the Commission vigorously to put the European viewpoint on the laying down of pollution and noise standards in the competent international organizations;

AIR TRANSPORT AND THE CONSUMER

58. Deplores the fact that, both in the report drawn up by the Committee of Wise Men and in the Commission communication, the need to protect the interests of air travellers is completely ignored; considers that in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, the objectives of a common civil aviation policy must include the provision of quality services and the application of minimum standards of protection for users of air transport;

59. Believes that common rules on compensation for air traffic accident victims should be adopted, and calls on the Commission to investigate the possibility of drawing up a code of conduct for travel agents with a view to improving information to the consumer;

60. Calls on the Commission to set a VAT rating that will enable internal Community transport to remain competitive;

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

61. Calls on the Commission to include aviation research and development among its priorities;

62. Urges the Commission, in implementing the Fourth Framework Programme for Research, to promote the establishment of concertation networks by means of the concerted actions in the specific programmes to coordinate the various aviation research activities of the Community, the Member States, the international bodies and the industry itself; calls on the Commission to report to it on the execution and outcome of this coordination;

63. Calls for these networks, where safety research is involved, to be extended to include the competent bodies in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the states of the former Soviet Union so that Europe will become a common aviation safety area;

64. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments of the Member States, the European Civil Aviation Conference, the International Civil Aviation Organization, Eurocontrol, the Economic and Social Committee, the Association of European Airlines and Committee of Transport Workers' Unions.