Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on common rules for the operation of air transport services in the Community (recast) COM(2006) 396 final — 2006/0130 (COD)
Date: 2007-05-31
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: air transport, consolidation of EU law, transport regulations

27.7.2007

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 175/85

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Proposal for a Regulation of the
European Parliament and of the Council on common rules for the operation of air transport
services in the Community (recast)’

COM(2006) 396 final — 2006/0130 (COD)

(2007/C 175/20)

On 15 September 2006, the Council 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 7 May 2007. The rapporteur was
Mr McDonogh.

At its 436th plenary session, held on 30 and 31 May 2007 (meeting of 31 May 2007), the European
Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 58 votes with 4 abstentions:

Recommendations:

All PSO airlines should be required to enter into a perfor-

1.
mance bond.

There should be a Service Level Agreement between the

2.
airports served by the PSO flights and the Contracting State.

3.
Higher compensation than that outlined in Regulation
[EC] 261/2004 should be available to PSO passengers, as no
other alternative transport may be available.

The tender process for PSO should have a minimum of

4.
two tenders.

11.
One stop security as originally proposed by the Commis-
sion should be introduced for those passing through European
airports.

This

should include

12.
a modification of passenger
screening at airports to include a fast track system (biometrics)
to facilitate regular passengers.

Tickets purchased in advance of 1 month should have a
13.
cooling-off period to allow customers to cancel them without
penalty within 48 hours. In the event of a cancellation of a
ticket the customer should also be entitled to a refund of all air
taxes.

5.
For European flights, the return leg should cost the same
as the outward leg. If there is a considerable difference between
the outward and homeward leg this must be justified.

1. Introduction

PSO tickets should be refundable as all other airline tickets

6.
are, subject to conditions.

Fare calculations should be clearly displayed on tickets like

7.
taxes, airport charges, etc.

1.1 More than ten years after the entry into force the third
package has largely played its role, allowing the unprecedented
expansion of air transport in Europe. Old monopolies have
been swept away,
intra-Community cabotage has been intro-
duced, and competition in all markets has intensified to the
benefit of consumers.

8. a) The approach to intermodality should ensure a level

playing field for all modes of transport;

b) Aviation bears a disproportionate burden in security

costs. This shall be rectified.

The reference to high-speed trains should remain as in

9.
some Member States they do not exist.

Despite this success, most of the Community's airlines
1.2
continue to suffer from overcapacity and from the excessive
fragmentation of the market. The inconsistent application of the
third package across the Member States and the lingering restric-
tions on intra-Community air
translate into the
following effects:

services

The Commission should carry out audits to see that the
10.
national aviation regulators are carrying out their duties in the
even handed and fair manner and that none of their actions
distort competition.

1.3
Absence of a level-playing field: market efficiency is
affected by competition distortions (e.g. varying application with
regard to the requirements of the operating licence; discrimina-
tion between EU carriers on the basis of nationality; discrimina-
tory treatment concerning routes to third countries; etc.).

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Official Journal of the European Union

27.7.2007

1.4
Inconsistent application of rules governing the leasing of
aircraft from third countries with crew, with consequent distor-
tions of competition and social implications.

the right to negotiate intra-community traffic rights with third
countries.
It enhances consumer rights by promoting price
transparency and non-discrimination.

1.5
Passengers not reaping the full benefits of the internal
market because of the lack of price transparency or discrimina-
tory practices on the basis of the place of residence.

3.5
The experience with the third package on the internal
aviation market has shown that the legislation is not interpreted
and applied in a uniform way across Member States. This situa-
tion hinders the existence of a true level playing field between
community air carriers.

2. Existing provisions in the area of the proposal

3.6

The proposal provides for simplification of legislation.

The proposal aims at revising and consolidating the regu-

2.1
lations.

4. Detailed explanation of the proposal

The

proposal

2.2
by
promoting a more competitive environment with European air
carriers capable of taking on their international competitors.

internal market

reinforces

the

2.3
Some of the proposed changes may have an environ-
mental impact, since they will tend to encourage further expan-
sion of air traffic. The EESC is conscious that the continuing
growth of air traffic is becoming a significant cause of growth
of greenhouse gas emissions and is currently preparing an
opinion on that subject. Whatever needs to be done in that
context, however, the Committee supports the reinforcement of
a level playing field in the airline sector as proposed in the
Commission present proposal.

3. Impact assessment

3.1
The revision of the third package does not intend to radi-
cally change the legal framework, but rather to make a series of
adjustments in order to address the identified problems.

3.2
The ‘no change’ option leaves unaltered the present three
regulations composing the third package of the internal aviation
market.

3.3
The ‘change’ option includes a series of changes to the
third package in order to ensure the homogenous and effective
application of its rules. This should include a modification of
passenger screening at airports to include a fast track system
(biometrics) to facilitate regular passengers.

4.1
Reinforcement of the requirements for the granting and
revoking of an operating licence. The financial health of the
airlines is being checked with different degrees of severity
depending on the Member State that issued the licence.

The proposal requires Member States to reinforce the
4.2
supervision of the operating licences and to suspend or revoke
it when the requirements of the regulation are no longer met
(articles 5 to 10).

4.3
The proposal has been drafted in such a way as to
allow for the possibility of a future extension of the competen-
cies of the European Aviation Agency (EASA) for safety over-
sight and/or for licensing so as to ensure the most efficient and
consistent supervision of the air carriers.

5. The proposal strengthens the requirements for the

leasing of aircraft

5.1 Wet leasing of aircraft from third countries provides EU
airlines with important flexibility. However, this practice has
some disadvantages and can entail severe safety risks, as has
been shown by several recent accidents.

5.2
The safety assessment of leased aircraft from third coun-
tries is not pursued with the same rigour in all Member States.
Therefore, it is crucial that Article 13 (wet/dry leasing) is fully
enforced by the licensing authority.

3.4
The draft regulation will ensure an efficient and homoge-
neous application of community legislation for the internal
aviation market via stricter and more precise application criteria
(e.g. for operating licences, leasing of aircraft, public service obli-
It also reinforces the
gations and traffic distribution rules)
internal market by lifting still existing restrictions on the provi-
sion of air services stemming from old bilateral agreements
between Member States and by conferring to the community

6. The proposal clarifies the rules applicable to public

service obligations (PSO)

The rules applicable to public service obligations have
6.1
been revised in order to lighten the administrative burden, to
avoid excessive recourse to PSO and to attract more competitors
in the tender procedures.

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 175/87

6.2
To avoid excessive recourse to PSO, the Commission
may require in individual cases the production of an economic
report explaining the context of the PSO and the assessment of
their adequacy should be performed with particular care when
they are intended to be imposed on routes that are already been
served by high speed rail services with a travel time of less
than three hours. The tender procedures have been modified by
extending the maximum concession period from three to four
years.

7. Competition

To ensure coherence between the internal market and its
7.1
external aspects,
including those of the Single European Sky,
access by airlines of third countries to the intra-Community
market should be managed in a coherent manner through nego-
tiations at Community level traffic rights with third countries.

7.2
Remaining restrictions from existing bilateral agreements
between Member States will be lifted, ensuring non-discrimina-
tion in respect of code sharing and pricing by Community air
carriers on routes to third countries involving points in Member
States other than their own.

8. The proposal promotes price transparency for passen-

gers and fair price behaviour

The publication of fares that exclude taxes, charges and
8.1
even fuel surcharges has become a widespread practice that
hampers price transparency. Insufficient price transparency leads
to distortions of competition and therefore consumers face on
average higher fares. The Commission also still observes cases of
discrimination on the basis of the place of residence of the
passenger.

Brussels, 31 May 2007.

8.2
In the proposal, air fares have to include all applicable
taxes, charges and fees and air carriers shall provide the general
public with comprehensive information on their air fares and
rates.

8.3
Air fares shall be set without discrimination on the basis
of place of residence or the nationality of the passenger within
the Community. Furthermore, for the access to a carriers air
fares, there may be no discrimination on the basis of the place
of establishment of the travel agent.

8.4
Air fares should be clearly stated. At present, many extra
charges are being added on which can significantly increase the
fare; particularly noteworthy among these are airport
total
charges which have been known to be inflated by the airlines in
order to improve their yield.

Within Europe, fares are often distorted by currency differences
although this should be less now with the introduction of the
Euro. Still it is hard to explain how it is cheaper to fly to places
like London, Rome, Madrid, and not vice versa.

This difference in fares between outward and return jour-
neys is repeated throughout Europe on most routes.

8.5 We fully agree with the proposal that EASA be properly
funded and staffed and be given the power of mandatory regu-
lation in all EU countries. This we had proposed in our earlier
document (1).

8.6
PSOs are necessary and still desirable to encourage
services to more isolated areas. However, the rules and regula-
tions for airlines getting the PSOs have been very lax. Although
the PSO states the number of flights and the seating capa-
city of aircraft, there appears to be no penalties imposed
for bad time keeping or delayed flights.

The President

of the European Economic and Social Committee

Dimitris DIMITRIADIS

(1) OJ C 309, 16.12.2006, p. 51-54.