WRITTEN QUESTION P-0075/04 by Raffaele Costa (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Flight safety checks.
Date: 2004-01-13
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: International Civil Aviation Organisation, air safety, aircraft, exchange of information, safety standard, transport safety

3.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 84 E/157

(2004/C 84 E/0194)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0070/04

by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

Subject: Chrome-plating factory in Tabaçò, Arcos de Valdevez

(20 January 2004)

Following my Question E-2437/03 (1) of 11 July 2003 and the reply of 23 September 2003, concerning
the possible building of a polluting factory in Tabaçò, Arcos de Valdevez, Portugal, a statement by the
Association for the defence of the Valdevez Natural Environment says that there is a risk of the Serraliber
chrome-plating factory briefly starting chrome-plating operations in January 2004.

There is a revocation case before the courts (No C/000830/03) for failure to comply with the provisions of
Decree Law No No 69/2000 of 3 May since the factory was built before the environmental
impact
assessment had been concluded.

What action has been taken since the Commission replied to me in September 2003?

(1) OJ C 65 E, 13.3.2004.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(26 February 2004)

Following its answer of 23 September 2003 to question E-2437/03 (1) by the Honourable Member on the
same subject, the Commission can inform the Honourable Member that the Portuguese authorities have
since replied to the letter it sent requesting further information on the construction of the proposed
factory.

The Commission is currently examining the Portuguese authorities’ reply. The situation will then be
examined at a meeting between the Portuguese authorities and the Commission with a view to adopting a
position on the complaints in question.

At that meeting, the Commission will not fail to question the Portuguese authorities regarding the impact
assessment carried out on the project, and in particular the situation reported by the Honourable Member
in her question.

(1) OJ C 65 E, 13.3.2004.

(2004/C 84 E/0195)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0075/04

by Raffaele Costa (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(13 January 2004)

Subject: Flight safety checks

The European Union (cid:1) via the European Parliament, the Commission and the Council (cid:1) has in various
ways urged the individual countries to introduce effective flight safety controls. Safety is extremely
important, and not just in view of the recent tragic accident. Does the Commission not consider it would
be useful to obtain information from the individual countries concerning the checks carried out on the
condition of aircraft and the results produced? Have checks been carried out on individual carriers and
how many and what kind of checks were carried out without prior notice in the various countries on both
scheduled flights and ‘charter’ flights? Has the crucial issue (cid:1) which is not always spelled out (cid:1) of the
relationship between low fares and expenditure on flight administration and routine and special aircraft
maintenance been tackled in every country?

C 84 E/158

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

3.4.2004

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(25 February 2004)

Member States inspect foreign aircraft which land on their territory and take part in a coordination
programme established by the European Civil Aviation Conference: the Safety Assessment of Foreign
Aircraft (SAFA) programme. These checks and the SAFA programme were much discussed in the press
following the Flash Airlines Boeing 737 accident at Sharm el Sheikh on 3 January 2004; the checking of
this aircraft highlighted the programme’s limitations.

The proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the safety of third
countries’ aircraft using Community airports (1) should make it possible to overcome the deficiencies in the
SAFA programme, in particular by making checks mandatory, by providing scope for Community action
vis-à-vis undertakings or countries which fail to comply with safety requirements, and by publishing an
annual report on inspections. Once this Directive is applied by the Member States, the Commission will
have detailed information on all the inspections carried out at Community airports.

The Commission currently has the following data: in 2002, European States participating in the SAFA
programme carried out 3 234 checks on aircraft operated by 529 airlines from 127 countries.

The Commission notes that the certification of airlines and the certification of each individual aircraft is
done by the national civil aviation authority of the country in which the airline is established or in which
the aircraft is registered,
in accordance with the rules of the International Civil Aviation Organisation
(ICAO). The responsibility of ensuring that international safety standards are being adhered to rests with
the national authority, regardless of
the relationship between fares, costs and aircraft maintenance.
All undertakings must submit to inspections by the competent authorities. The national registration
authorities undergo ICAO audits.

(1) OJ C 103 E, 30.4.2002.

(2004/C 84 E/0196)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0078/04

by Proinsias De Rossa (PSE) to the Commission

Subject: Schengen Information System and missing persons

(20 January 2004)

In its reply to my written question No E-3222/03 (1),
the Commission says that as regards the
recommendation made at the European Conference on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Human
Beings held in Brussels in September 2002, that a feasibility study be conducted on the establishment of a
European database for missing persons, a recommendation reiterated by the European Parliament in its
resolution on the Daphne II programme (P5_TA(2003)0366- A5-0280/2003), the possibility of searching
for missing people and children in particular already exists under the Schengen Information System (SIS)
and that this possibility will be maintained with the development of the second generation of the SIS.

Could the Commission indicate which Member States utilise this facility and outline what conclusions have
been reached as regards its effectiveness?

(1) OJ C 78 E, 27.3.2004, p. 493.

Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(20 February 2004)

Article 97 of the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement of 14 June 1985 (1)
(here after
referred to as ‘the Convention’) stipulates:
‘Data on missing persons or persons who, for their own
protection or in order to prevent threats, need temporarily to be placed under police protection at the
request of the competent authority or the competent judicial authority of the Party issuing the alert shall
be entered, so that the police authorities may communicate their whereabouts to the Party issuing the alert