Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on a Community Air-Traffic Controller Licence (COM(2004) 473 final — 2004/0146 (COD))
Date: 2005-03-09
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: European standard, air safety, air traffic, air traffic control, diploma, vocational training

22.9.2005

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 234/17

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Proposal for a Directive of the
European Parliament and of the Council on a Community Air-Traffic Controller Licence

(COM(2004) 473 final — 2004/0146 (COD))

(2005/C 234/04)

On 22 September 2004 the Council of the European Union decided to consult the European Economic
and Social Committee, under Article 80 (2) of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the
abovementioned proposal.

The Section for Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society, which was responsible for
preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 21 February 2005. The rapporteur
was Mr McDonogh.

At its 415th plenary session of 9 and 10 March 2005 (meeting of 9 March) the European Economic and
Social Committee adopted the following opinion by126 votes in favour and one abstention.

1. Introduction

the world's most
1.1
European airspace remains one of
the air-
congested traffic environments. Fragmentation of
management system into national
isles of rules, procedures,
markets and performance levels was identified by the High
Level Group on the Single European Sky as the main impedi-
ment
to making substantial progress in this industry. The
Single European Sky package tackles these different forms of
fragmentation through a number of initiatives.

2. Background

2.1
Adoption of the four regulations composing the Single
European Sky package will fundamentally change the air-traffic
management landscape. This complementary proposal for a
Community air-traffic controller licence is important for several
reasons.

The licence contributes to the balance between the different
elements of the Single European Sky package, to ensure that
not only institutional, economic or technical aspects are dealt
with, but also social aspects.

2.2
In order to prepare this legislative initiative the Commis-
sion had launched a study to present the state of licensing in
the different Member States. The study revealed that, despite
many international regulations, issued by ICAO or by Eurocon-
trol, licensing remains highly fragmented in the EU Member
States. The study recommended that Community legislation
should cover the following areas:

b) competency checking of controllers, the training process
and the requirements for examinations, including linguistic
qualifications and assessments, should be described in rela-
tion to candidate training and competence standards;

c) all facilities should be accredited, and instructor qualification
requirements should be specified in relation to recognition
of Training Institutes and Training Units.

2.3
The preparatory study revealed that, despite the existing
international regulation, national traditions are strong, yielding
a variable level of quality and producing competencies which
are difficult to compare. This fragmentation is no longer accep-
table in a Community context, as it may lead to an increased
safety hazard in Europe's congested airspace. The harmonisa-
tion of air-traffic controllers'
licences will add to safety as
competence levels will be harmonised inside and between
service providers, contributing to a more efficient and safer
interface between them. This will lead to more efficient organi-
sation of the labour market for air-traffic controllers, increasing
their availability and facilitating the establishment of functional
airspace blocks. The licence will make the freedom of move-
ment more effective by eradicating the current discretion which
some Member States take with regard to the mutual recogni-
tion of each others' licences.

Given the fact that most of the Member States already
2.4
have legislation in place based on ICAO principles and that
they are currently implementing Single European Sky legisla-
tion and ESARR5, it is of the utmost importance to ensure full
consistency with this directive.

a) age limitations, validity of rating endorsements and unit
endorsements should be provided in relation to the condi-
tions for obtaining and maintaining a licence;

2.5
Only certified training providers would be enabled to
submit courses and training plans for approval to the national
supervisory authorities.

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Official Journal of the European Union

22.9.2005

in the maritime

The directive goes beyond the existing licences in civil
2.6
It is more comparable to
aviation for pilots (91/670/EEC).
licences
(proposal
contained in COM(2004)142) whereby rules on competencies
are set at European level and not left to Member States' discre-
tion. It is clear that this Directive for air-traffic controllers will
also have authority beyond Community borders.

and railway sectors

2.7
The costs will depend on the current level of quality of
the training system. The Directive brings the quality of the
output of the training system up to the level required to cope
with the safety requirements stemming from Europe's dense
and complex traffic system.

By setting high standards for initial

2.8
training and by
enforcing more guarantees for neutral and objective examiners
during unit training, the success rate of unit training should
increase.

2.9
The cost for the follow-up of the different elements of
the licensing chain may slightly increase, due in part to keeping
records for auditing.

2.14
The objective of this Directive is to increase safety stan-
dards and to improve the operations of the Community air-
traffic control system through the issuance of a Community
air-traffic controller licence.

The holder of a rating who has not been providing air-
2.15
traffic control services under any endorsement associated with
that rating throughout any period of five years may not exer-
cise the privileges of that rating without satisfying assessment
and training requirements.

2.16
In order to ensure the levels of competence indispen-
sable for air-traffic controllers to perform their work to high
safety standards, the Member States shall ensure that national
supervisory authorities supervise and monitor their training.

2.17
Each Member State shall recognise the licence and its
associated ratings and endorsements issued by the national
supervisory authority of another Member State in accordance
with the provisions of this Directive.

All in all, the possible increase of costs in the short
2.10
term should be offset by cost saving through more rational use
of the workforce in the longer term. Last but not least, the
Directive will increase the safety of the flying public.

3. Comments

2.11

This proposal does not include a financial statement.

in order

2.12
Implementation of the Single European Sky legislation
requires the establishment of more detailed legislation, in par-
ticular on arrangements concerning the licensing of air-traffic
controllers,
to improve their availability and to
promote the mutual recognition of licences, as foreseen in
Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No. 550/2004 of the European
Parliament and of the Council of 10 March 2004 on the provi-
sion of air-navigation services in the single European sky (the
service provision Regulation) (1).

2.13
The introduction of such a Community licence is a
means of recognising the specific role which air-traffic control-
lers play in the safe provision of air-traffic control. The estab-
lishment of Community competence standards will also reduce
fragmentation in this field, making for more efficient organisa-
tion of work in the framework of growing regional collabora-
tion between air-navigation service providers. This Directive is
therefore an essential part of the Single European Sky legisla-
tion.

(1) Regulation (EC) No. 550/2004 of the European Parliament and of
the Council of 10 March 2004 on the provision of air navigation
services in the single European sky (the service provision Regu-
lation) (OJ L 96, 31.3.2004, p. 10.) - EESC Opinion: OJ C 241,
7.10.2002, p. 24.

and

The

European

Economic

3.1
Social Committee
welcomes this proposal by the Commission to introduce new
regulations governing Air-Traffic Controllers. These are neces-
sary and timely because of the large increase projected in air-
traffic movements over the next 10 years. There is also a need
to have the same standard and qualifications throughout the
EU, to ensure the safety of the travelling public. With the
increase in air travel, there will be an increase in the demand
for Air-Traffic Controllers worldwide. Freedom of movement is
therefore essential.

The EESC wonders whether 4 years is a realistic estimate

3.2
for the implementation of these regulations.

The Commission must ensure that the Directive does

3.3
not permit the monopolisation of training at National level.

3.4
The licence endorsements
competency e.g. ENGLISH Level 4.

should include language

3.5
All initial ATC courses should be required to satisfy, as a
minimum, the ECAC guidelines for Common Core Content
training.

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C 234/19

3.6
The introduction of random alcohol and drug testing for
all operational ATCOs is welcomed and is in line with ESARR5
as well as the psychological testing of all student ATCOs.

3.7
The issue of age is still a real concern. Statistics indicate
a greater risk of serious illness or sudden death with age.
National boundaries do not appear to have effected the require-
ment for an age limit on pilots.

Concerning in particular Article 4, the EESC suggests

3.8
that:

— paragraph 5 should indicate that an effective appeals
process must be in place to allow for redress for licensees;

— paragraph 7 should indicate that an effective appeals
process be in place to allow for inappropriate medical find-
ings leading to suspension of the licence.

Brussels, 9 March 2005.

The President

of the European Economic and Social Committee

Anne-Marie SIGMUND

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Proposal for a regulation of the
European Parliament and of the Council establishing the second ‘Marco Polo’ programme for the
granting of Community financial assistance to improve the environmental performance of the
freight transport system (‘Marco Polo II’)

(COM(2004) 478 final — 2004/0157 (COD))

(2005/C 234/05)

On 15 February 2005 the Council decided to consult the European Economic and Social Committee,
under Article 71 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the abovementioned proposal.

The Section for Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society, which was responsible for
preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 21 February2005. The rapporteur
was Mr Levaux.

At its 415th plenary session of 9 and 10 March 2005 (meeting of 9 March), the European Economic and
Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 129 votes, with three abstentions.

1. Introduction: Outline of the Commission's explanatory

memorandum

The Commission presents its proposal for a regulation
1.1
for the ‘Marco Polo II’ programme, setting out the reasons
why freight transport infrastructures must be developed:

— freight transport is set to double by 2020 and existing
networks are inadequate,
resulting in road congestion,
environmental degradation, accidents, and a loss of compe-
titiveness; and

1.2
The Commission reasserts that ‘a stronger reliance on
intermodality is necessary’, because intermodality makes better
use of existing infrastructures by incorporating short sea ship-
ping, rail and inland waterways into the logistics chain. Inter-
modal policy is already covered by the Marco Polo I
programme (2003/2006), which aimed to shift the average
yearly increase of international road freight towards the three
other modes of transport mentioned above.

The Commission proposes

the Marco Polo II
1.3
programme continue this policy over the 2007-2013 period,
extending the programme's scope to cover all of the European
Union's neighbours and adding two new types of action:

that

— sustainable development requirements are to be taken into
account, which requires a more energy-efficient transport
system.

— traffic avoidance action.

— motorways of the sea; and