[pic] | COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES |

Brussels, 15.11.2005

COM(2005) 574 final

2004/0146 (COD)

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty concerning the

Common Position of the Council on the adoption of a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on a Community Air Traffic Controller Licence

2004/0146 (COD)

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty concerning the

Common Position of the Council on the adoption of a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on a Community Air Traffic Controller Licence (Text with EEA relevance)

1. BACKGROUND

Date of transmission of the proposal to the EP and the Council (document COM(2004)473final – 2004/0146 (COD): | 12.7.2004 |

Date of the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee: | 9.3.2005 |

Date of the opinion of the European Parliament, first reading: | 8.3.2005 |

Date of transmission of the amended proposal (document COM(2005)293final) | 24.6.2005 |

Date of adoption of the common position: | 14.11.2005 |

2. OBJECTIVE OF THE COMMISSION PROPOSAL

The Commission proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on a Community air traffic controller licence is one of the key elements of the Single Sky package. The licence contributes to the recognition of the specific competencies of air traffic controllers at Community level. At the same time, high and harmonised competencies form part of a wider Community safety policy and will contribute to a more flexible organisation of the workforce, especially in view of cross-border service provision and the establishment and management of functional airspace blocks.

3. COMMENTS ON THE COMMON POSITION

This Common Position text does not only constitute the current Council position, but also incorporates part of Parliament’s amendments in first reading. Indeed, the text reflects interinstitutional discussions which have allowed a compromise text to be identified.

The Council’s Common Position made numerous amendments to the Commission’s proposal. The Commission is of the opinion that these amendments do not alter the objectives of its proposal.

Most of these changes are formal, leading to a replacement of words, phrases or articles. So has the Article 7 of the proposal been split into two Articles 6 and 7, also leading to a reordering of the Articles, without any change to content. Other amendments introduce technical changes, sometimes clarifying, or in many cases detailing procedural issues. These changes are mainly explained by the strong tradition in civil aviation of detailed regulation. Indeed, several Member States were of the opinion that a regulation would be the most appropriate instrument to deal with licensing. The best example is annex I, which details the specifications to be inserted on the licence and the colour and quality of the paper to be used.

Several of the amendments of the Common Position were supported by Parliament in its First Reading and Commission already had amended its proposal accordingly. An example of such an amendment is the requirement of separation, in Article 3, between national supervisory authorities and not only training providers (as provided in the Commission proposal), but also air navigation service providers.

The number of substantial changes which the Council has introduced is limited and the changes can be deemed to be in line with the objectives of the original Commission proposal and its amended proposal.

1. The Commission can accept the amendments in various recitals stressing the paramount importance of safety, the promotion of mobility, the need for adequate social protection and the involvement of established European social dialogue structures (recitals 9 and 17), as already indicated in its amended proposal.

2. The conditions to access the profession with regard to age and diploma (Art. 5.1.a) have been made more flexible in order to open the access to more categories. This amendment can be accepted since the levels of competence standards are being preserved. The entrance conditions to the training leading to these standards can be left to the discretion of the Member States. The maximum age requirement introduced in Article 5 does not amend the Commission proposal, as this was not intended to amend national social security legislation.

3. Freedom of movement is the consequence of the harmonised competence standards. The Commission can agree with the amendments promoting mobility, such as the limitation of the discretion for national supervisory authorities to introduce ‘national endorsements’ on the basis of Article 7 paragraph 4. This amendment is in line with Parliament’s first reading and with the Commission amended proposal.

4. The Council amendment in Article 8 paragraph 3 allows, in contradiction to the Commission proposal, Member States to raise the language requirement to the ‘extended’ level (level 5 on the rating scale in Annex III) beyond the standard ‘operational’ level (level 4 on the rating scale in Annex III), if Member States can demonstrate that the increased level is required for operational safety reasons. This amendment is in line with Parliament’s first reading and the Commission had accepted it in its amended proposal, as this exception to the rule must be duly justified on the basis of imperative safety purposes.

5. Council has introduced more flexibility in the application of medical requirements, whereby national requirements must be consistent with both the Eurocontrol and ICAO standards. As the Eurocontrol standard has not been officially adopted as could be expected at the time of adoption of the Commission proposal, the Commission can accept the reference to two international instruments as standards for national requirements.

6. The deletion of the accounting requirements in Article 11 can be accepted, as most of the training providers will be covered by similar provisions in other parts of Community legislation.

7. The Commission can support the amendments of Article 15 which will contribute to the freedom of movement of air traffic controllers. The Council goes beyond the Commission proposal, which was based upon legislation in the field of the mutual recognition of diplomas. The new Article will not be limited to the mere recognition of the licence, but it will lead to an automatic recognition of important parts of the licence; in addition the licence holder will be entitled to exchange his old licence for a new one, issued by the Member State where he will be working; finally, the authorities will have to take due account of, beyond his ‘diploma’, his experience and competencies.

8. The references to implementing measures have been concentrated in a new Article 16, whereby the Commission loses the possibility to change the language level requirements through comitology. The Commission can accept this limitation.

9. A new Article on transitional arrangements confirms the rights of current licence holders. While validity of their licences is not put into question, they will need to extend the validity in accordance with the standards laid down in the Directive. The Commission can accept this amendment ensuring the necessary legal certainty.

4. CONCLUSION

For the above stated reasons, the Commission considers that the Common Position adopted on 14.11.2005 does not alter the aims and approach of its proposal and so can support it, all the more because the Common Position takes due account of amendments proposed by European Parliament in its first reading and of the amended Commission position. Indeed, the text reflects interinstitutional discussions which have allowed a compromise text to be identified.

5. COMMISSION DECLARATION

The Commission made a unilateral declaration at the occasion of the adoption of the Common Position (see Annex I).

ANNEX I

Commission declaration

The Commission will undertake an impact assessment on the desirability of extending training qualifications and licensing to professions other than air traffic controllers, involved in the ATM safety chain.