WRITTEN QUESTION E-2803/01

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Council

(10 October 2001)

Subject: Injury done to the environment and to public services by the Member States' temporarily taking over airline insurance risks

1. Can the Council confirm that the decision by the Member States' finance ministers of 22 September 2001 in Liège to take over non-insurable risks of airline companies with no requirement to make premium payments is provisional and in principle will not remain in force for more than four weeks?

2. Does the Council agree that such insurance covers more than a merely theoretical risk, since in the event of accidents which Heaven forbid will never occur, very real huge large amounts would have to be paid out?

3. Given the measure referred to in paragraph 1, what are the Council's plans to prevent tax revenue from the Member States being withdrawn from the objectives to which they were assigned in the national budgets, so that funds for inter alia education, the environment, old-age provision and health care do not end up in renewed support for airlines?

4. How does the Council plan to ensure that the above-mentioned measure does not produce a delay in the elimination of the over-capacity prior to 11 September 2001, which is responsible for the many empty seats on aircraft, and which would mean that the environment continues to be affected by unnecessarily high noise and emission levels?

5. Has the Council considered measures which, in the event that airline restrictions following 11 September 2001 are extended beyond four weeks, could replace the recently announced support measures and would not lead to damage to the environment or be detrimental to public services in the Member States?

Reply

(14 February 2002)

The Informal meeting of finance ministers in Liège on 21 September 2001 issued guidelines for any insurance cover that governments might choose to provide to airlines as a result of the short-term failure in the commercial insurance market subsequent to the atrocities of 11 September. The developing situation in respect of such insurance cover was again discussed by the Ecofin Council on 16 October 2001, while the Transport/Telecommunications Council on the same day discussed the general situation in the airline sector and adopted Council Conclusions on the issue.

The Council confirmed that the provision of insurance cover by Governments must remain a short-term intervention in reaction to a specific failure in the commercial market, and that an absolute limit of the end of December 2001 should be set for the end of such intervention. The Council also agreed that steps should be taken to encourage a return to normal operation of the commercial market. These steps should include the charging of market-related premium substitutes by Governments, reflecting the risks insured, and monthly review of all Government measures.

Within these guidelines, it will be for the Member States to decide on the measures to be taken in accordance with their national procedures, while respecting the provisions of the Stability and Growth Pact with regard to their budgetary impact.

The Council noted that if the abnormal situation in the airline insurance sector recurs after the expiry of the year-end deadline for the end of Government intervention, the Commission should make proposals to cover by alternative means risks for which commercial cover is not available.

With respect to the general economic situation in the air transport sector, after a broad debate at the Transport/Telecommunications Council on 16 October 2001, and noting that control of state aid is a matter for the Commission, the Council took note of the Commission's Communication on the repercussions of the terrorist attacks in the United States on the air transport industry.

Moreover, the Council has also taken note of the resolution on environmental questions adopted by the ICAO Assembly, and of the intention of the Commission to present in the near future a proposal for a replacement for the hushkits Regulation. The Council has undertaken to give this proposal the necessary priority to facilitate its adoption before April 2002.