WRITTEN QUESTION P-1328/01

by Georg Jarzembowski (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(25 April 2001)

Subject: Proposal for efficient air traffic management and the Gibraltar dispute

In his speech to Parliament on 21 July 1999, the Commission President, Romano Prodi, called for the creation of an efficient air traffic management system as an urgent European undertaking to avoid the frequently chaotic situations in the skies over Europe caused by the constant increase in air traffic, to improve air transport safety, to prevent pollution caused by stacking over airports and longer flying times, and to avoid the enormous additional financial burden for airlines caused by unnecessary air traffic.

The Commissioner responsible for transport, Vice-President Loyola de Palacio, has now drawn up a proposal for an efficient European air traffic management system on the basis of the recommendations of the high-level group which she set up. Submission of the report, however, has been delayed by the re-emergence of the dispute over Gibraltar. The European Council meeting on 23/24 March 2001 was unable to find a solution to this question. Its statement that it expected to make further progress on the matter before the European Council meets in June (Gothenburg) is not very promising. Since the dispute is essentially one between two Member States, the matter should ultimately be left to the European Council or the Council of Ministers but it should not hinder a long overdue practical discussion of efficient air traffic management.

Is the Commission in a position to adopt a practical proposal for an efficient air traffic management system and to submit it to the legislative bodies for consideration and decision?

When will the Commission finally take a decision on this proposal?

Can the Commission not avoid conflict over Gibraltar in the College by leaving that issue open and inserting a Gibraltar clause in parentheses in the proposal, as has often been the practice in European legislation in the past (see, for example, Article 6 of Council Regulation (EC) No 925/1999 of 29 April 1999 on the registration and operation of civil subsonic jet aeroplanes)?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(1 June 2001)

The Commission agrees with the Honourable Member that proposals for the reorganisation of air traffic management are due in order to address the inefficiencies of the existing system and to consolidate the safety level of air transport. The report of the High Level Group on the Single European Sky, which was finalised in November 2000, provides the basis for these proposals.

The Commission would not wish, however, that the dispute over Gibraltar airport should stand in the way of early adoption of these proposals, as has happened with a number of other proposals in the air transport field. The subject was raised at the European Council of Stockholm of 23/24 March 2001 and further discussions between the two Member States concerned were encouraged, expecting to make further progress on this issue in time for the Göteborg European Council in June 2001.

Technical work to prepare proposals has continued nevertheless, and the Commission expects to be in a position to deliberate on these proposals before the end of the Swedish Presidency. In that respect, the Commission will examine the suggestion put forward by the Honourable Member amongst other suggestions in order to find a constructive solution to this issue.