WRITTEN QUESTION E-2953/01 by Charles Tannock (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Air safety.
Date: 2001-10-25
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: air safety, civil aviation, data transmission, recording equipment, terrorism

C 134 E/158

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

6.6.2002

Does the Council also believe that it is in the interests of the Union to show flexibility regarding the legal
basis for any common proposals in the spirit of ‘enhanced cooperation’ so that states such as the UK
which have not transferred competence for immigration control to the European Union are free to agree
to any measures intergovernmentally in a spirit of European cooperation to the benefit of the Union as a
whole?

Reply

(14 February 2002)

Under the mandate in Article 63 of the EC Treaty, the Council pursues its legislative programme with a
view to adopting common rules on asylum, refugees and displaced persons, and immigration policy.

In this context most of the measures envisaged by the Honourable Member are currently being studied
within the Council bodies on the basis of Commission proposals and Opinions of
the European
Parliament,
in particular the proposal relating to minimum standards on procedures for granting and
withdrawing refugee status COM(2000) 578 final.

It should be noted that
the
United Kingdom and Ireland annexed to the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the
European Community, has announced its wish to take part in the adoption and application of the
Directive in question.

to the Protocol on the position of

the United Kingdom, pursuant

(2002/C 134 E/159)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2953/01

by Charles Tannock (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(25 October 2001)

Subject: Air safety

Bearing in mind the appalling events of September 11 and the recent decision of the International Civil
Aviation Authority at its meeting in Montreal to revise the Chicago Convention to include common
preventive measures against new terrorist threats following a decision to press for such a change at the EU
Transport Ministers’ meeting of 14 September, and given that the ‘black box’ flight recorders of the
aeroplanes which crashed into the World Trade Centre may not have survived the inferno and that the
‘black box’ on the Russian aeroplane which exploded (for whatever reason) over the Black Sea last week is
unlikely ever to be recovered because of the depth at which it is likely to be situated, hampering the
investigations, will the Commission now press for simultaneous cockpit recordings to be transferred to the
ground even if access to the tapes is limited to governments and the Civil Aviation Authorities and they
are routinely erased in the event of a safe landing?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(7 December 2001)

The question of the transmission of data from flight recorders to ground stations has been examined on a
number of occasions in the past. The main obstacles were of a technical and economic nature.

As regards the technical obstacles, it is true that data transmission has developed to an extent where it
would now be possible to consider the transfer of data from aircraft to the ground.

However, the fairly high costs associated with aspects such as the transmission techniques to be used, the
geographical area to be covered, the updating rate etc. should be examined in relation to the added value
of this new technique, whereas usable recordings are frequently recovered after accidents.

6.6.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 134 E/159

Added to these questions are possible legal problems linked to the possession of such data, as
transmissions could be intercepted.

For these reasons, the introduction of a system of direct transmission of data cannot be envisaged at
present without a prior analysis of all these implications. The Commission does not therefore intend to
include such a measure among its proposals on civil aviation safety.

(2002/C 134 E/160)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2961/01

by Antonio Tajani (PPE-DE) to the Council

(5 November 2001)

Subject: Statements made by Louis Michel against the Italian Prime Minister

Is the Council aware of the statements made by Louis Michel, the Belgian Foreign Minister, (broadcast on
the RTL-TV1 channel and reported by the Wall Street Journal Europe on 9 October 2001), in which he
gave ‘marks’ to the main world leaders?

Does the Council know that Mr Michel, incredibly, gave the same valuation for the Italian Prime Minister
as for the Taleban regime and is it aware of the repeated attacks made by Mr Michel, the President-in-
Office of the EU, against the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi?

What steps will the Council take with regard to Mr Michel, who is arbitrarily and wrongfully exploiting his
official position to attack the leader of the government of one of the founding countries of the European
Union, making statements which deeply offend not only the Prime Minister, but also the Italian State and
its citizens?

Reply

(14 February 2002)

It is not for the Council to comment on the statements made by Mr Louis Michel. In any case, Mr Louis
Michel was speaking in a personal capacity, and not as President of the Council of the European Union.

(2002/C 134 E/161)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2962/01

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(25 October 2001)

Subject: Incorporating rising insurance premiums into air fares on a self-financing basis

1.
Can the Commission confirm that, by comparison with other large modern businesses, the profit
margins of airlines have been conspicuously low for very many years in spite of the fact that, unlike other
transport services, aviation is in a position to benefit from tax exemptions based on long-standing
international agreements?

2.
Is low profit margin the key reason for the failure to establish sufficient hedging reserves, one
consequence of this being that, at an earlier stage than in other businesses, aviation’s response to financial
setbacks is to plan workforce cuts and ask governments to subsidise or underwrite operating risks which
are hard or very costly to insure?