Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on 'the proposal for a Council Directive relating to access to the groundhandling market at Community airports` () (96/C 129/02)

At its meeting on 15 November 1995, the Bureau of the Committee of the Regions instructed Commission 3 for Transport and Communications Network to draw up an Own-initiative Opinion on the above-mentioned proposal.

Commission 3 drew up its Opinion on 14 December 1995 (Rapporteur: Mr Kurth).

At its 11th Plenary Session (meeting of 17 January 1996), the Committee of the Regions adopted the Opinion set out below.

WHEREAS

- In order to enable implementation of the single European market as per Article 7a of the Treaty for foundation of the European Community, the Community has developed a joint air traffic policy in stages;

- In accordance with Article 59 of the Treaty, restrictions in free trade in services in the Community should be suspended; in accordance with Article 61, Section 1 of the Treaty, this must take place in the context of the joint traffic policy;

- In addition to the issuance of regulations (EEC) No 2407/92, (EEC) No 2408/92 and (EEC) No 2409/92 by Parliament, the Committee, in its notice of 1 June 1994, 'Civil aviation in Europe en route to the future` issued an initiative for realisation of access to the market for groundhandling services at Community airports;

- On 13 December 1994, the Committee submitted to Parliament a proposed Guideline concerning access to the groundhandling market at Community airports.

The purpose of the Committee's proposal is to deregulate access to the groundhandling services market at Community airports. Implementation of ground traffic services has been organised in different ways between one member State and another and - in some cases - even within member States.

The purpose of the draft Guideline was to create a Community framework for access to the market for groundhandling services; however, member States have to retain the means of taking account of the particular features of the field and of its local situation.

MEASURES PROPOSED BY THE COMMISSION

- For own groundhandling, the proposed measures are applicable to free access to the market for all Community airports; for third-party groundhandling, application to airports is restricted to a specific density of passenger and freight (Article 2).

- The principle of separation of areas of activity is applied, whereby there is calculated and administrative separation between the activities of groundhandling and other activities (Article 4).

- Access to certain categories of services can be restricted inasmuch as such access cannot be agreed consistent with limitations on safety, capacity and available space. However, this restriction requires that at least one of the service providers must be independent of the management body of the airport and of the dominant airline (Articles 6 and 7).

- There is opened up the possibility that member States may grant other releases with regard to free access to the market on the basis of space or capacity restrictions at airports, in which eventuality the Committee can resist such releases (Article 9).

- A users' committee should be set up (Article 5), which must be involved in the selection of approved service providers and which shall carry the final decision in cases where the management body of the airport provides groundhandling services (Article 10).

- On 13 September 1995, the finance and social committee issued an Opinion on the draft Guideline.

- At the meeting of the European Parliament on 17 November 1995, it approved an extensive Opinion with a large number of proposed modifications.

CONTENTS OF THE COMMITTEE'S OPINION

1. For a consistent and competitive air traffic market, it is necessary that in all areas the conditions for introduction and extension of competition should be set up. This should include airports and the groundhandling services provided therein, as an integral part of the air traffic market. Fundamental priority of competition is the only way to achieve price advantages for citizens as passengers by means of cost reductions on the part of air traffic companies.

2. In many cases it has been possible to achieve the high standard reached in many member States in the provision of services at airports and in the availability of infrastructure only by member States' opening up the possibility for airport operators to act entrepreneurially and to open up the market in the respective regions. The essence of this entrepreneurial activity on the part of airport operators in the contexts of services and infrastructure must not be impeded by deregulation of groundhandling services.

3. Airports are the core of economic development in entire regions. In terms of employment politics, airports are responsible for a substantial function in the satisfactory provision of jobs in the region. One job at an airport often creates or protects up to two jobs in the surrounding area. This function for airports, which is important in the interests of regional development, must not be jeopardised by excessive liberalisation and an accompanying process of destruction of tried and tested structures in the airport sector.

In compliance with the resolution of the European Parliament and the Opinion of the financial and social committee, there should be guaranteed a reasonable level of social standards for employees of companies which provide groundhandling services.

4. By airport operators' entrepreneurial activity in many categories of ground traffic services, they contribute to the financing of the costs entailed for modernisation and extension of the infrastructure. It is not reasonable to transfer the financing of the infrastructure to member States or to regional area corporations by deregulation of groundhandling services.

5. Performance capability in the air traffic market includes a governmental administrative function which is restricted to performing core functions in the public interest. New bureaucratic procedures for setting up and monitoring a new market regulation should be avoided. Decisions within a European framework ruling should be made where the greatest knowledge of the particular features of the local situation is available, in which context the priority should be given to agreement by the parties involved. The Committee's responsibilities should be restricted, by application of the subsidiarity principle, to monitoring and investigative activities.

6. Deregulation of groundhandling services should be applied carefully, in successive stages, and in a procedure differentiated according to the size of airports and appropriate in the context of repercussions.

7. Conclusions

From the above-described principles, there arise the following concrete proposed modifications to the Committee's proposal:

- That the range of application of the Guideline should cover airports in Community territory which are open to commercial air traffic and which annually record at least 1 million passenger movements or 25 000 t of freight. Articles 4, 5, 6, 10, 11 and 12 should apply only to airports which annually record at least 4,5 million passenger movements or 150 000 t of freight (Article 2);

- That there should be set up a functional users' committee to which representatives of the regions should also belong. The users' committee should exercise consultative and supportive functions (Article 5);

- That it should be left to the discretion of member States whether for specific groundhandling services they wish to restrict the number of service providers both for third party groundhandling and for own groundhandling (Articles 6 and 7);

- That in the case of the release decisions as per Article 9, the decision should be made by the member States. The option of investigation and correction of national decisions should be granted to the Committee only where a case involves airports which are not fully co-ordinated airports for purposes of regulation (EEC) No 95/93 concerning the joint regulation for allocation of timeslots to airports in the Community. Member States should be given the facility of withholding approval not only for third-party groundhandling but also for own groundhandling;

- That for shared utilisation of the general airport infrastructure by service providers and operators who wish to practise own groundhandling, the airport operator should be able to charge reasonable compensation (for infrastructure) and also compensation (for the concession) for provision of a given commercial opportunity;

- That in order to arrange the required precautions for guaranteeing the free exercise of third-party and own groundhandling, there should be required a transitional period of 3 years after entry into force of the Guideline (Articles 6, 7 and 14);

- That in addition to deregulation of groundhandling services, safety standards and social standards should be harmonised as soon as possible. A reasonable level of social standards is essential with regard to the provision of a high safety standard in European flight traffic.

Done at Brussels, 17 January 1996.

The Chairman of the Committee of the Regions

Jacques BLANC

() OJ No C 142, 8. 6. 1995, p. 7.