WRITTEN QUESTION E-1784/99 by Mark Watts (PSE) to the Commission. Civil aviation safety.
Date: 1999-10-11
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: air safety, civil aviation, crew, mortality, rest period, transport accident

C 170 E/100

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20.6.2000

Therefore the Commission does not share the views expressed by the Honourable Member.

Transport safety is being dealt with as a matter of urgency while the progress made in technology or the
social sciences enable resources constantly to be allocated at the various levels of responsibility for safety.
It thus goes without saying that the Commission is constantly examining other potential means of
improving transport safety. In this assessment process, which is complex because it has several scientific,
technical,
industrial, behavioural, social and economic aspects, cooperation among the Commission(cid:146)s
various specialist departments continues to be essential in order to guarantee the maximum long-term
effectiveness of the measures adopted, proposed or recommended by the Commission.

(2000/C 170 E/116)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1784/99

by Mark Watts (PSE) to the Commission

(11 October 1999)

Subject: Civil aviation safety

When measured by time spent travelling, the passenger death risk of flying in civil aviation in the EU is
higher than the risk of dying as a car occupant. It has been estimated that 40 % of all fatal civil aviation
crashes are deemed to be survivable and that over 80 % of crashes occur during landing or take-off phases.

Will the Commission ensure that the EU takes the steps required to reduce these risks by bring proposals
forward as soon as possible on:

(cid:129) a single European Safety Authority,

(cid:129) a common flight-time limitations scheme which reflects scientific research on fatigue and represents

best practice,

(cid:129) a confidential human incident reporting scheme,

(cid:129) an EU strategy for improving survivability?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(11 November 1999)

The Commission has noted the statistics provided by the Honourable Member and the conclusions that he
draws as regards the risk arising from civil air travel.

Although many others consider aircraft to be one of the safest forms of transport the Commission
recognises that the risk inherent in this mode requires particular monitoring and attention; This explains,
in particular, why it has frequently taken action in this area including those instances referred to by the
Honourable Member.

The Commission is in the process of drawing up a draft convention on the basis of the Directives,
negotiations and the procedures adopted by the Council on 16 July 1998. It has done so in connection
with setting up the European Air Safety Authority. That document is currently being discussed with
Member State experts. The Commission is planning to start negotiating with the other European States
involved as soon as that initial drafting stage has been completed.

The Commission has been working for three years on flight and rest times in conjunction with the major
interested parties in order to reach a consensus. Since this has not borne fruit the Commission will now
base itself on the work so far done in examining whether it is appropriate to put forward a proposal on its
own initiative.

For more than five years the Commission has been developing tools and procedures enabling information
on human incident reporting to be acquired and exchanged. On this basis the Commission will examine

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the suitability of putting forward proposals for legislative action in this area in the light, in particular, of
the financial and human resources available to it for implementation and follow-up purposes.

The Commission has already done a great deal of work on survivability as part of the research and
development programmes and intends to continue to do so in order to make progress as regards aircraft
design and certification requirements, together with their operating procedures.

(2000/C 170 E/117)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1788/99

by Glyn Ford (PSE) to the Commission

(11 October 1999)

Subject: Lazio Football Club and travel agency agreement

Is the Commission aware of press reports that indicate that Lazio Football Club have signed a three-year
agreement with a travel agency to cover transport to and tickets for away games in the Champions(cid:146)
League, with the result that,
in order to obtain tickets, fans have to pay twice the cost of travelling
independently to the games?

In the light of earlier answers to similar questions where the Commission indicated that such an
arrangement would be in breach of European Union law and constitute an (cid:145)abuse of a dominant position(cid:146),
will the Commission investigate and, if the reports are true, inform Lazio that such breaches of law must
immediately cease?

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(9 November 1999)

The Honourable Member asks the Commission whether it considers a reported agreement between Lazio
Football Club and a travel agent, according to which the former supplies to the latter 70 % of all entry
tickets allocated to the club for each of its Champions(cid:146) League away-leg matches, to constitute an abuse of
a dominant position contrary to European law.

Assuming the press reports as referred to by the Honourable Member are accurate, it appears that the
effect of the agreement in question is to reserve a significant proportion of away-leg entry tickets to a
single travel agent for onward sale to the general public, thereby preventing other travel agents from
selling tickets to Lazio supporters for the matches in question. Furthermore, it is likely that in respect of
ticket sales by the appointed travel agent, Lazio supporters will be obliged to purchase match tickets as
part of a package of services, including the provision of travel and accommodation arrangements as well.

Insofar as the application of European competition rules to the agreement is concerned, those rules do not
apply unless the agreement could have an appreciable effect on trade between Member States. It would
appear that tickets allocated to Lazio Football Club for entry to its away-leg Champions(cid:146) League football
matches are likely to be wanted exclusively by Italian supporters. As such, it can be assumed that the
demand for those tickets is of a national, regional or even local nature. It follows therefore that any
restrictive effects of the agreement in question are likely to be confined principally, if not entirely, to travel
agents and other distributors of tickets active on the Italian market.

The Commission considers therefore that the agreement in question could have little or no effect on trade
between Member States and that as such European competition rules are not applicable.

Agreements or practices with allegedly restrictive effects on a purely national scale may, however, be
assessed by a Member State(cid:146)s national competition authority. The Honourable Member may therefore wish
to consider raising this matter with the Autorit(cid:224) Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato in Italy
(Via Liguria 26, I-00187 Roma).