European Parliament resolution of 14 March 2007 on the conclusion of the Air Transport Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, on the one hand, and the United States of America, on the other hand
Date: 2007-03-14
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: European Community, United States, agreement (EU), air safety, air transport, environmental protection, legal cooperation, market access, ratification of an agreement, social policy

13.12.2007

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 301 E/143

Wednesday 14 March 2007

11.
Calls on the Commission, the Member States and SSGI service providers, in view of the stress, work-
ing hours (shift and night work) and dangerous or demanding nature of certain activities carried out by the
social services, to develop vocational training initiatives geared to enabling staff to adjust to and cope with
circumstances of this kind, with a view to ensuring better-quality services and to improve working and
living conditions for workers in the sector; considers also that, in view of the changing nature of require-
ments for SSGIs, public authorities must ensure that workers in SSGIs have a high level of vocational
training;

Congratulates the Commission on its decision to consult all actors involved in the definition and
12.
organisation of SSGIs; believes that such dialogue will result in greater transparency and better-quality ser-
vices and help to reinforce the principles and values that underpin them;

Calls on the Commission and the Member States to respect the diversity of the methods of organis-
13.
ing and managing SSGIs, of their resources and of the methods of funding these services; also calls for the
establishment of public-private partnerships to provide such services, while taking care to promote the
general interest and ensure the provision of efficient and high-quality services;

Considers that the Member States' various competent public authorities are free to decide whether
14.
SSGIs should be provided by mutual associations, other forms of social organisation or private businesses,
in cases where the provision of services by the private sector is compatible with the principle of upholding
the general interest, but considers that public authorities should be able to check at any time that the service
providers are abiding by the principles and values associated with SSGIs and whether services are being
provided in accordance with the requirements specified in advance by the public authorities;

15. Welcomes the involvement of firms, in the context of fulfilling their social responsibilities, in the
funding, support and delivery of SSGIs and calls on the Commission and the Member States to involve the
social partners to a greater extent in developing approaches of this kind in accordance with the customs of
each Member State;

16.
Notes that in some Member States the decentralisation of power to regional or local authorities for
the purpose of providing SSGIs has not been accompanied by the allocation of sufficient budget resources
to enable them to deliver services of the highest standard in terms of quantity and quality; consequently,
calls on the Member States to ensure that any transfer of powers to regional and local authorities for the
purpose of delivering SSGIs is accompanied by adequate budgetary resources;

17.
Recommends the convocation of a forum, under the auspices of Parliament, which would bring
together European social organisations and representatives of the Council and the Commission to guide
the way this process is handled;

18.

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.

P6_TA(2007)0071

EC-US Air Transport Agreement

European Parliament resolution of 14 March 2007 on the conclusion of
the Air Transport
Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, on the one hand, and the
United States of America, on the other hand

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the proposal for a decision of the Council and the representatives of the governments
of the Member States of the European Union, meeting within the Council on the conclusion of the Air
Transport Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, on the one hand, and
the United States of America, on the other hand (COM(2006)0169), (‘November 2005 draft agree-
ment’),

C 301 E/144

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

13.12.2007

Wednesday 14 March 2007

— having regard to the text for a new draft agreement agreed upon by EU and US delegations on 2 March

2007 in Brussels (‘draft agreement of 2 March 2007’),

— having regard to its resolution of 17 January 2006 on developing the agenda for the Community's

external aviation policy (1),

— having regard to Rule 103(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas the Court of Justice of the European Communities has ruled that several bilateral aviation
agreements between Member States and the USA contravene principles of EU law, and whereas the
conclusion of an EU-US aviation agreement is the best way to guarantee full compliance with EU law,

B. whereas the EU and USA aviation markets combined account for about 60 % of world air traffic and an
EU-US aviation agreement will benefit consumers on both sides of the Atlantic and could serve as a
model for further liberalisation and regulatory convergence worldwide,

C. whereas the Council considered that the draft agreement finalised in November 2005 would not pro-
vide a sufficient balance of opportunities unless the US were to create greater opportunities for EU
carriers to gain access to the US domestic market via investment and participation in US airlines,

D. whereas the US Department of Transportation responded with a Notice of Proposed Rule Making,
relaxing its interpretation of the statutory requirement that US airlines be under the actual control of
US citizens, but decided in December 2006 to withdraw this Notice, after reviewing a multitude of
public comments, including those received from the US Congress,

E. whereas this led to a new round of negotiations resulting in the draft agreement of 2 March 2007,

F. whereas in such an agreement convergence of regulations is particularly important, especially regula-

tions on safety, security, the environment and the social rights of workers,

General principles

Recognises the importance of the EU-US aviation agreement not only in its own right but also as a

1.
model for later agreements;

2. Welcomes therefore the draft agreement of 2 March 2007 as an important step towards an integrated
transatlantic aviation market that will be to the benefit of consumers;

3. Would have preferred the conclusion of one balanced overall agreement covering all aspects of market
opening and regulatory convergence to a phased approach employing partial agreements;

4. Welcomes therefore Article 21 of the draft agreement of 2 March 2007 containing an agenda and a
clear timetable for negotiations on a second-stage agreement, including provisions allowing parties to sus-
pend rights specified in the first-stage agreement, if 30 months after the start of negotiations on a second-
stage agreement no such agreement has been reached;

Calls on the Transport Ministers to endorse the draft agreement of 2 March 2007 during the Council

5.
meeting of 22 and 23 March 2007;

Market opening

6.
Emphasises that a new EU-US aviation agreement should be balanced in terms of market access,
considering also such issues as cabotage, right of establishment, ownership and de facto control and state
aid;

(1) OJ C 287 E, 24.11.2006, p. 84.

13.12.2007

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 301 E/145

Wednesday 14 March 2007

7. Welcomes therefore inter alia clauses in the draft agreement of 2 March 2007 on ownership, invest-
ment and control (Annex 4) and on franchising and branding (Annex 5), and the opening up of the ‘Fly
America Programme’ to EU carriers;

Regrets however that no progress has been made on cabotage and that the possibility for EU carriers

8.
to exercise effective control over a US airline is still limited, even with the extended ownership clauses;

9.
Emphasises that government subsidies to airlines can distort competition and calls upon both parties
to keep their use to a minimum while welcoming at the same time procedures under which parties can
inform each other and discuss measures taken by either side;

Regulatory convergence

Notes that the development of regulatory convergence is only partially dealt with in the draft agree-

10.
ment of 2 March 2007 and is left to a large extent to the joint committee;

11.
Notes furthermore that, in so far as the draft agreement of 2 March 2007 deals with regulatory
convergence, this concerns mainly provisions on safety and security, with very little reference to environ-
mental and social aspects;

Safety and security

12. Welcomes cooperation between the EU and US authorities responsible for the field of aviation safety,
both at EU and US federal level and at the level of the Member States and states respectively;

Notes the importance of the European blacklist of substandard carriers and the US system for mon-

13.
itoring carrier standards and calls on both parties to share information in this respect;

Notes the importance of security measures for aviation but warns against excessive or uncoordinated

14.
measures that are not based on a proper risk assessment;

Calls on the Commission and the US to review the efficiency of the additional security measures

15.
enforced since 2001 so as to eliminate overlapping and weak links in the security chain;

Emphasises that the privacy of European and US citizens should be respected when personal passen-
16.
ger data are exchanged between the EU and the US,
in accordance with the criteria called for by the
European Parliament in its resolutions of 13 March 2003 (1) and 7 September 2006 (2); stresses in this
connection the urgency of arriving at worldwide standards on data protection and privacy;

Advocates the concept of ‘one stop security’, checking passengers and luggage only at the start of

17.
their journey and not again at every transfer;

Environment

Recognises that the aviation sector has several negative environmental effects,

18.
in particular as a
source of noise and as a contributor, like other modes of transport, to climate change, and that these effects
will increase with the growth of aviation;

Notes that Article 15 of the draft agreement of 2 March 2007 stresses mainly the possible adverse
instead of emphasising the need for

19.
effects of environmental measures and the need to mitigate these,
environmental action in aviation;

Underlines therefore the need for both the EU and the US to take effective measures to reduce the
20.
negative environmental impact of aviation, without prior exclusion of any regulatory, financial or other
instrument to achieve this goal;

(1) OJ C 61 E, 10.3.2004, p. 381.
(2) OJ C 305 E, 14.12.2006, p. 250.

C 301 E/146

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

13.12.2007

Wednesday 14 March 2007

21. Welcomes the proposal by the Commission to include aviation in the European emissions trading
system to reduce the impact of the aviation sector on climate change; points out that talks will need to be
held with the US at an early stage with a view to encompassing transatlantic air traffic within the European
emissions trading system by 2012 so as to enable aviation to be included within the time-frame laid down;

Calls on both parties to exchange best practices on noise reduction, acknowledging differences in

22.
local circumstances;

23. Welcomes Paragraphs 34 and 35 of the Memorandum of Consultations attached to the 2 March
2007 draft agreement, in which the US and the EU agree to work together in the framework of the Inter-
national Civil Aviation Organization and the G8 to reduce aircraft noise and emissions; welcomes the
intention of the responsible US and EU authorities to enhance technical cooperation in the fields of climate
science, research and technology development, fuel efficiency and reduction of emissions in air transport;

Social policy

Calls upon US and EU aviation stakeholders to enter into a continuous dialogue on social standards,
24.
with the aim of promoting mutual understanding, a level playing field and high social standards at the same
time;

25.
Calls upon the Commission to advocate the inclusion of references to relevant international legisla-
tion on social rights in any eventual agreement, in particular the labour standards embodied in the funda-
mental conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO 1930-1999), the OECD guidelines for
Multinational Enterprises (1976, revised 2000) and the Rome Convention on the Law Applicable to Con-
tractual Obligations of 1980;

Insists that EU social legislation should be applied to employees recruited and/or working in the
26.
Member States,
in particular the Directives concerning the consultation and information of employees
(2002/14/EC, 98/59/EC and 80/987/EEC), the Directive on the organisation of working time of mobile
staff in civil aviation (2000/79/EC) and the Directive concerning the posting of workers in the framework
of the provision of services (96/71/EC);

Conduct of negotiations

Calls on the Commission to ensure full information and consultation of the European Parliament and

27.
of all relevant stakeholders before and throughout second-stage negotiations;

28. Welcomes the idea of regular meetings between Members of the European Parliament and the US
Congress to discuss all relevant issues concerning an EU-US aviation agreement;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments

29.
and parliaments of the Member States and to the US Congress.

*

*

*

P6_TA(2007)0072

Non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament

European Parliament resolution of 14 March 2007 on non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the third session of

for the 2010 Non-
Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference, which is due to take place in Vienna from 30 April to
11 May 2007,

the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom)