Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty concerning the Common Position of the Council on the adoption of a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on a Community Air Traffic Controller Licence
Date: 2005-11-15
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: International Civil Aviation Organisation, air safety, air traffic, air traffic control, diploma, vocational training

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 15.11.2005 
COM(2005) 574 final 

2004/0146 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty 

concerning the 

Common Position of the Council on the adoption of a Directive of the European 
Parliament and of the Council on a Community Air Traffic Controller Licence 

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2004/0146 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty 

concerning the 

Common Position of the Council on the adoption of a Directive of the European 
Parliament and of the Council on a Community Air Traffic Controller Licence 

(Text with EEA relevance) 

1. 

BACKGROUND 

Date of transmission of the proposal to the EP and the Council 
(document COM(2004)473final – 2004/0146 (COD): 

12.7.2004 

Date  of  the  opinion  of  the  European  Economic  and  Social 
Committee: 

9.3.2005 

Date of the opinion of the European Parliament, first reading: 

8.3.2005 

Date of transmission of the amended proposal 
(document COM(2005)293final) 

24.6.2005 

Date of adoption of the common position: 

14.11.2005 

2. 

OBJECTIVE OF THE COMMISSION PROPOSAL 

The Commission proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on a 
Community air traffic controller licence is one of the key elements of the Single Sky package. 
The  licence  contributes  to  the  recognition  of  the  specific  competencies  of  air  traffic 
controllers  at  Community  level.  At  the  same  time,  high  and  harmonised  competencies  form 
part of a wider Community safety policy and will contribute to a more flexible organisation of 
the workforce, especially in view of cross-border service provision and the establishment and 
management of functional airspace blocks. 

3. 

COMMENTS ON THE COMMON POSITION 

This  Common  Position  text  does  not  only  constitute  the  current  Council  position,  but  also 
incorporates  part  of  Parliament’s  amendments  in  first  reading.  Indeed,  the  text  reflects 
interinstitutional discussions which have allowed a compromise text to be identified. 

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The Council’s Common Position made numerous amendments to the Commission’s proposal. 
The  Commission  is  of  the  opinion  that  these  amendments  do  not  alter  the  objectives  of  its 
proposal. 

Most of these changes are formal, leading to a replacement of words, phrases or articles. So 
has  the  Article 7  of  the  proposal  been  split  into  two  Articles 6  and  7,  also  leading  to  a 
reordering  of  the  Articles,  without  any  change  to  content.  Other  amendments  introduce 
technical changes, sometimes clarifying, or in many cases detailing procedural issues. These 
changes are mainly explained by the strong tradition in civil aviation of detailed regulation. 
Indeed,  several  Member  States  were  of  the  opinion  that  a  regulation  would  be  the  most 
appropriate instrument to deal with licensing. The best example is annex I, which details the 
specifications to be inserted on the licence and the colour and quality of the paper to be used. 

Several of the amendments of the Common Position were supported by Parliament in its First 
Reading and Commission already had amended its proposal accordingly. An example of such 
an  amendment  is  the  requirement  of  separation,  in  Article 3,  between  national  supervisory 
authorities and not only training providers (as provided in the Commission proposal), but also 
air navigation service providers. 

The  number  of  substantial  changes  which  the  Council  has  introduced  is  limited  and  the 
changes can be deemed to be in line with the objectives of the original Commission proposal 
and its amended proposal. 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

The  Commission  can  accept  the  amendments  in  various  recitals  stressing  the 
paramount  importance  of  safety,  the  promotion  of  mobility,  the  need  for  adequate 
social  protection  and  the  involvement  of  established  European  social  dialogue 
structures (recitals 9 and 17), as already indicated in its amended proposal. 

The conditions to access the profession with regard to age and diploma (Art. 5.1.a) 
have been made more flexible in order to  open  the  access  to  more  categories.  This 
amendment  can  be  accepted  since  the  levels  of  competence  standards  are  being 
preserved. The entrance conditions to the training leading to these standards can be 
left  to  the  discretion  of  the  Member  States.  The  maximum  age  requirement 
introduced  in  Article 5  does  not  amend  the  Commission  proposal,  as  this  was  not 
intended to amend national social security legislation. 

Freedom of movement is the consequence of the harmonised competence standards. 
The  Commission  can  agree  with  the  amendments  promoting  mobility,  such  as  the 
limitation of the discretion for national supervisory authorities to introduce ‘national 
endorsements’ on the basis of Article 7 paragraph 4. This amendment is in line with 
Parliament’s first reading and with the Commission amended proposal. 

The  Council  amendment  in  Article 8  paragraph  3  allows,  in  contradiction  to  the 
Commission  proposal,  Member  States  to  raise  the  language  requirement  to  the 
‘extended’  level  (level 5  on  the  rating  scale  in  Annex III)  beyond  the  standard 
‘operational’  level  (level 4  on  the  rating  scale  in  Annex III),  if  Member  States  can 
demonstrate that the increased level is required for operational safety reasons. This 
amendment  is  in  line  with  Parliament’s  first  reading  and  the  Commission  had 
accepted  it  in  its  amended  proposal,  as  this  exception  to  the  rule  must  be  duly 
justified on the basis of imperative safety purposes. 

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5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 

Council  has  introduced  more  flexibility  in  the  application  of  medical  requirements, 
whereby  national  requirements  must  be  consistent  with  both  the  Eurocontrol  and 
ICAO  standards.  As  the  Eurocontrol  standard  has  not  been  officially  adopted  as 
could  be  expected  at  the  time  of  adoption  of  the  Commission  proposal,  the 
Commission  can  accept  the  reference  to  two  international  instruments  as  standards 
for national requirements. 

The deletion of the accounting requirements in Article 11 can be accepted, as most of 
the  training  providers  will  be  covered  by  similar  provisions  in  other  parts  of 
Community legislation. 

The Commission can support the amendments of Article 15 which will contribute to 
the  freedom  of  movement  of  air  traffic  controllers.  The  Council  goes  beyond  the 
Commission  proposal,  which  was  based  upon  legislation  in  the  field  of  the  mutual 
recognition of diplomas. The new Article will not be limited to the mere recognition 
of the licence, but it will lead to an automatic recognition of important parts of the 
licence; in addition the licence holder will be entitled to exchange his old licence for 
a  new  one,  issued  by  the  Member  State  where  he  will  be  working;  finally,  the 
authorities will have to take due account of, beyond his ‘diploma’, his experience and 
competencies. 

The  references  to  implementing  measures  have  been  concentrated  in  a  new 
Article 16,  whereby  the  Commission  loses  the  possibility  to  change  the  language 
level requirements through comitology. The Commission can accept this limitation. 

A  new  Article  on  transitional  arrangements  confirms  the  rights  of  current  licence 
holders.  While  validity  of  their  licences  is  not  put  into  question,  they  will  need  to 
extend the validity in accordance with the standards laid down in the Directive. The 
Commission can accept this amendment ensuring the necessary legal certainty. 

4. 

CONCLUSION 

For the above stated reasons, the Commission considers that the Common Position adopted on 
14.11.2005 does not alter the aims and approach of its proposal and so can support it, all the 
more because the Common Position takes due account of amendments proposed by European 
Parliament  in  its  first  reading  and  of  the  amended  Commission  position.  Indeed,  the  text 
reflects interinstitutional discussions which have allowed a compromise text to be identified. 

5. 

COMMISSION DECLARATION 

The Commission made a unilateral declaration at the occasion of the adoption of the Common 
Position (see Annex I). 

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ANNEX I 

Commission declaration 

The  Commission  will  undertake  an  impact  assessment  on  the  desirability  of  extending 
training qualifications and licensing to professions other than air traffic controllers, involved 
in the ATM safety chain. 

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