WRITTEN QUESTION No. 4126/97 by Claude DESAMA to the Commission. The situation at Eurocontrol
Date: 1998-01-21
Institutions: DESAMA, European Parliament
Subjects: Eurocontrol, air traffic, air traffic control, air transport, international organisation, liberalisation of the market, management, private sector, public law, public service

16. 6. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 187/127

(98/C 187/198)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-4122/97

by Anita Pollack (PSE) to the Commission

(16 January 1998)

Subject: Eco-label

Has the Commission undertaken surveys of consumer perceptions of the EU eco-label in each of the Member
States of the European Union? Is so, what did the surveys reveal?

Answer given by Mrs Bonino on behalf of the Commission

(27 February 1998)

The Commission has not undertaken any survey of consumer perceptions of the Community eco-label in any of
the Member States.

At the current stage it appears to be premature to execute such a survey.

(98/C 187/199)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-4126/97

by Claude Desama (PSE) to the Commission

(21 January 1998)

Subject: The situation at Eurocontrol

Eurocontrol is in practice losing the characteristics of an organization governed by public international law. It
was established as such by a Convention signed in 1963 by several European countries, but now, owing to the
revision of the texts by which it was established, day-to-day management of the organization is quite plainly
going adrift.

This  situation  goes  far  beyond  the  need  to  adapt  to  obvious  current  requirements  and  is  resulting  in  the
organization quite simply being taken over by private companies, which is blatantly contrary to, and represents a
complete break with, its traditions and its role as an international organization governed by public law.

For several years, the setting of Eurocontrol(cid:146)s objectives and implementation of its resources has been in the
hands of external consultants and various contractors (almost 400 altogether!) who are not air traffic specialists
and whose sole interest lies in producing expensive reports, which are often of no use, rather than in helping to
create an integrated and coherent air traffic control and management system.

This situation has already resulted in the dismissal of many of the agency(cid:146)s officials and also in the accumulation
of an ECU 400 million debt in five years.

Is the Commission planning to take steps to improve the situation and thus halt the destruction of an organization
whose expertise and resources are being squandered for the benefit of private interests and, ultimately, at the
expense of the Member States and to the detriment of the safety of European citizens?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(9 February 1998)

The Commission considers it essential for the smooth development of the Community(cid:146)s air liberalisation policy
that European air space offers sufficient capacity to manage future traffic growth both efficiently and safely. To
this  end,  in  March  1996,  the  Commission  adopted  a  White  Paper  on  Air  Traffic  Management (1)  in  which  it
recommended a reorganisation of the institutional arrangements for the supply of air traffic control services.

The Commission proposed a separation of operational and regulatory functions, in which the regulatory function
should  be  entrusted  to  a  reorganised  Eurocontrol  in  order  that  this  function  be  executed  efficiently  and
independently of the different interests involved. This approach was supported by the Parliament, particularly in
its resolution in response to the White Paper (2).