WRITTEN QUESTION E-2116/99 by SIR Robert Atkins (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Air Traffic Control.
Date: 1999-11-22
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Eurocontrol, IATA, air traffic, air traffic control, transport market

C 219 E/94

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

1.8.2000

(2000/C 219 E/120)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2116/99

by SIR Robert Atkins (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(22 November 1999)

Subject: Air Traffic Control

Is the European Commission intending to adopt the ATM 2000+ strategy in full or in part?

(2000/C 219 E/121)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2117/99

by SIR Robert Atkins (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(22 November 1999)

Subject: Air Traffic Control

What is the European Commission(cid:146)s policy on the liberalisation/privatisation of state-owned Air Traffic
Services amongst European Union Member governments?

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-2106/99, E-2107/99, E-2108/99, E-2109/99, E-2110/99,
E-2111/99, E-2112/99, E-2113/99, E-2114/99, E-2115/99, E-2116/99 and E-2117/99
given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(20 December 1999)

The Commission has issued a communication (1) on the current situation of air traffic delays and on new
initiatives to be taken to provide the Community with the air traffic management (ATM) system it needs to
ensure the proper functioning of its internal market. Most questions raised by the Honourable Member are
answered in this document which has been adopted on 1 December 1999 and communicated to the
Council and the Parliament.

When preparing this communication the Commission worked in close cooperation with interested parties,
in particular airspace users, airports, workers, and air traffic services providers, through their representative
organisations. It also consulted the civil aviation authorities of all Member States on the various actions to
take to rectify the situation.

Reduction of air traffic delays is primarily a responsibility of Member States and their co-ordinating body,
Eurocontrol. In this context operational procedures and technical
improvements are for specialists to
define and implement. The role of the Community is essentially to create the organisational framework at
national and European level so as to ensure that such solutions are universally agreed and implemented in
a co-ordinated and consistent manner. This is why the Community decided in 1998 to join Eurocontrol so
as to exercise political control on this organisation. Negotiations to that end are nearly completed, but
ratification procedures may take several years. The Commission therefore will ask early implementation of
Community membership.

The ATM 2000 strategy is a document produced by Eurocontrol and it is the responsibility of that
organisation to adopt and implement the proposals contained in the strategy. The Commission has
contributed to the production of this document along with aviation users, Member States, and interna-
tional organisations. The Commission supports the general objectives and strategic principles as indicated
in the strategy, but wonders whether more work is required in order to develop a mature, reliable and
robust plan which addresses the technological developments necessary to meet the estimated doubling of
traffic by 2015.

(1) COM(1999) 614.