European Parliament resolution of 25 April 2007 on the proposal for a Council decision on the conclusion of the Multilateral Agreement between the Republic of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Bulgaria, the Republic of Croatia, the European Community, the Republic of Iceland, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the Kingdom of Norway, Serbia and Montenegro, Romania and the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo on the Establishment of a European Common Aviation Area (ECAA)
Date: 2007-04-25
Institutions: Committee on Transport and Tourism, European Parliament
Subjects: Europe, air space, air transport, multilateral agreement, ratification of an agreement

C 74 E/658

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

20.3.2008

Wednesday 25 April 2007

Considers that any Commission initiative governing the right of victims to claim damages before the

29.
national judicial authorities must be accompanied by an impact assessment;

Calls on the Commission to work closely with the competent national authorities of the Member
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States in order to mitigate any cross-border obstacles that prevent EU citizens and businesses from filing
cross-border damages claims in cases of breaches of Community competition rules in Member States; con-
siders that, if necessary, the Commission should take legal action to remove such obstacles;

Urges those Member States in which citizens and businesses do not yet have such an effective right

31.
to claim compensation, to adapt their civil procedural law;

Emphasises that Parliament should play a co-legislative role in the field of competition law and that it

32.
should be kept regularly informed on the bringing of private legal actions;

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

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and parliaments of the Member States and the social partners.

P6_TA(2007)0153

Multilateral Agreement on the Establishment of a European Common Aviation
Area

European Parliament resolution of 25 April 2007 on the proposal for a Council decision on the
conclusion of the Multilateral Agreement between the Republic of Albania, Bosnia and Herzego-
vina, the Republic of Bulgaria, the Republic of Croatia, the European Community, the Republic
of Iceland, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the Kingdom of Norway, Serbia and
Montenegro, Romania and the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo on the
Establishment of a European Common Aviation Area (ECAA)

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the Commission proposal to the Council (COM(2006)0113) (1),

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

external aviation policy (2),

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

A. whereas, in view of its accession to the EU, Romania should be treated differently from the other States
and whereas Bulgaria, despite its accession, is subject to a protective clause with regard to security
interests and should therefore be treated like a third country,

B. whereas the Council has adopted the provisional agreement as proposed by the Commission and

whereas this provisional agreement awaits ratification by all parties,

C. whereas the European Common Aviation Area (ECAA) agreement is important as a framework agree-
ment for dealing with aviation-related issues with the countries of the Western Balkans, Iceland and
Norway, in particular, and whereas it provides a model for future agreements of this kind with other
third countries,

(1) Not yet published in OJ.
(2) OJ C 287 E, 24.11.2006, p. 84.

20.3.2008

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 74 E/659

Wednesday 25 April 2007

Environment

Notes that it is important that the ECAA agreement should cover current and future EU legislation on

1.
emissions and other measures that will reduce the environmental impact of aviation;

2. Welcomes the fact that the parties to the agreement accept that at some point in the future aviation
may be included in emissions trading schemes (ETS);

Stresses the importance of the agreement in terms of creating the conditions for enlarging the Single

3.
European Sky (SES) beyond Member States;

Safety and Security

Underlines the importance, therefore, of technical assistance and accession negotiations as means of

4.
obtaining the necessary consensus with non-EU and non-EEA partners in order to attain this objective;

5.
Insists that all EU safety and security legislation and Regulation (EC) No 1107/2006 of the European
Parliament and of the Council of 5 July 2006 concerning the rights of disabled persons and persons with
reduced mobility when travelling by air (1) must be included in the operational annex to the agreement;

Notes that air traffic management is included in the agreement, a fact which is important from the

6.
point of view of applying the SES rules, such as those for developing transborder air space blocks;

7. Welcomes the advantages of reciprocal and coherent application of the Safety Assessment contained in
Directive 2004/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 on the safety of
third-country aircraft using Community airports (2) by all parties to the agreement;

Recalls that achieving the SES objective also entails flexibility of airspace, which necessitates institutio-

8.
nalised cooperation between military and civil authorities in the field of air traffic control;

Social issues

9. Welcomes the role of the European Aviation Safety Agency in training experts, preparing manuals and
providing technical advice to partner countries, as well as in helping to establish implementation mechan-
isms;

Stresses the fact that relevant EU social legislation must be complied with when implementing the

10.
agreement;

11.
Notes that the agreement provides for the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 3922/91
of 16 December 1991 on the harmonization of technical requirements and administrative procedures in the
field of civil aviation (3);

Notes that there must be prompt implementation of the commitments in the agreement and that a

12.
progress report must be submitted to the European Parliament by 31 December 2008;

13.
Calls on the Commission and the Council to ensure that the agreement reflects these key considera-
tions and that arrangements for monitoring are established in connection with the implementation process;

*

*

*

14.

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

(1) OJ L 204, 26.7.2006, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 143, 30.4.2004, p. 76. Directive as amended by Regulation (EC) No 2111/2005 (OJ L 344, 27.12.2005, p. 15).
(3) OJ L 373, 31.12.1991, p. 4. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1900/2006 of the European Parlia-

ment and of the Council (OJ L 377, 27.12.2006, p. 176).