WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2761/97 by Willi GÖRLACH , Barbara SCHMIDBAUER to the Commission. Complaints against airports and airlines with regard to ground handling arrangements
Date: 1997-09-01
Institutions: European Parliament, GOERLACH, SCHMIDBAUER
Subjects: European Commission, Germany, airport, application of EU law, competition law, infringement procedure (EU), monopoly, provision of services, transport company

3. 4. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 102/111

(98/C 102/160)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2759/97

by Gerhard Schmid (PSE) to the Commission

(1 September 1997)

Subject: Family rail passes for European railways

In France and Germany you can obtain what is known as a family rail pass, and it is recognized by both countries.

1. Would  it  not  be  desirable  to  introduce  a  family  rail  pass  throughout  the  European  Union,  valid  in  all
Member States, to make rail travel more attractive and support the family?

2. Will the Commission be taking an initiative in this direction? If not, why not? If so, how?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission
(7 October 1997)

Whilst  recognising  the  clear  advantages  for  families  and  for  patronage  of  rail  of  family  rail  passes,  the
Commission considers that tariff schemes and reductions are matters for the railway undertakings themselves, in
line with their management independence.

In  addition,  given  the  principle  of  subsidiarity,  it  is  for  Member  States  to  decide  how  far  they  would  like  to
support tariff reductions on public transport.

Consequently, the Commission has no plans to bring forward a specific initiative regarding a Community-wide
family pass.

(98/C 102/161)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2761/97

by Willi Go¤rlach (PSE) and Barbara Schmidbauer (PSE) to the Commission

(1 September 1997)

Subject: Complaints against airports and airlines with regard to ground handling arrangements

1.
In  1994  the  Commission  initiated  several  infringement  proceedings  against  airports  and  airlines  on  the
grounds that they had set up an unjustified monopoly in the field of ground handling. What is the state of progress
with these proceedings, and particularly the proceedings against Flughafen Frankfurt/Main AG?

How is the Commission ensuring that the purposes of the Council of Transport Ministers, as expressed in
2.
the ground handling directive adopted on 24 October 1996 on the basis of Article 84 of the EC Treaty to reconcile
the transport and competitive aspects, are also heeded without restriction in the Commission’s proceedings? Will
the Commission be respecting the transitional provisions in the ground handling directive and enforcing them, in
particular the rule in Article 9 whereby an airport’s proven capacity and space constraints will permit the airport
to be exempted from premature market exposure until 1 January 2003 at the latest?

Answer given by Mr Van Miert on behalf of the Commission

(26 September 1997)

1.
The  Commission  terminated  a  number  of  the  proceedings  after  the  market  was  opened  up  to  a  second
supplier  of  groundhandling  services.  This  was  the  case,  for  example,  with  the  Spanish  airports  and  Dublin
airport.  The  groundhandling  market  will  also  be  opened  up  to  a  second  supplier  at  Athens  airport  on
1 January 1998, one year ahead of the date laid down in Council Directive 96/67/EC of 15 October 1996 on
access to the groundhandling  market at  Community  airports (1).  As  far  as  Frankfurt  airport  is  concerned,  the
matter is still under examination.