WRITTEN QUESTION E-1672/01 by Jacqueline Foster (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Defibrillators on short haul flights.
Date: 2001-06-14
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: air transport, first aid, medical device, transport regulations, transport safety

C 350 E/208

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

11.12.2001

On 11 April 2001, the Danish authorities notified the training side of the scheme. They claim that the
training grant is administered as a so-called general measure and therefore does not constitute State aid.
For a measure to be a general measure, it must not favour certain enterprises or the production of certain
goods, there may be no sectoral or regional limits or preferences, the State may not have any discretionary
powers, and there may not be any budgetary restrictions. The Commission is currently investigating
whether all these criteria are fulfilled in the present case and has requested the necessary additional
information from the Danish authorities. Once all
the information has been submitted, and the
notification can be considered to be complete, the Commission has two months to adopt a final decision.
The decision can then be found, in Danish, at the following internet address: http://europa.eu.int/comm/
secretariat_general/sgb/state_aids/.

(1) OJ C 334, 12.12.1995.

(2001/C 350 E/228)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1672/01

by Jacqueline Foster (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(14 June 2001)

Subject: Defibrillators on short haul flights

Could the Commission confirm whether there is any EU initiative currently in progress relating to the
carrying of life saving equipment (with particular reference to the availability of defibrillators on short-haul
flights) on civil aircraft carrying passengers?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(20 July 2001)

The obligation to carry defibrillators on commercial aircraft is among the operational requirements which
may be imposed on aircraft operators.

The Commission has placed a proposal before Parliament and the Council for the adoption of operational
requirements for the commercial exploitation of aircraft (1) but it does not include such an obligation.

As the Honourable Member is aware, the Commission has based its proposal on the work of the Joint
Aviation Authorities (JAA) and has emphasised that it does not wish to call the experts(cid:146) conclusions with
regard to safety into question. A large number of Members of Parliament supported this viewpoint during
the debates on the above proposal.

Now that the US Administration has adopted a regulation requiring defibrillators to be carried on some
commercial aircraft, the subject will be coming up for discussion within the JAA. The Commission will
take account of the conclusions with a view to possibly amending its proposal.

(1) OJ C 311, 31.10.2000.

(2001/C 350 E/229)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1676/01

by Jaime Valdivielso de CuØ (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(14 June 2001)

Subject: Shipbuilding industry

On 8 May 2001 the Commission at last proposed, in view of the unfair competition which has been
practised for years now by South Korea, as described in its fourth report on the industry, that the matter
should be brought before the WTO on 30 June.