COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union concerning the position of the Council on the adoption of a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the establishment of rules and procedures with regard to the introduction of noise-related operating restrictions at Union airports within a Balanced Approach and repealing Directive 2002/30/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council
Date: 2014-03-28
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: International Civil Aviation Organisation, airport, noise level, noise pollution, noise protection

EUROPEAN 
COMMISSION 

Brussels, 28.3.2014  
COM(2014) 205 final 

2011/0398 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union 

concerning the 

position of the Council on the adoption of a Regulation of the European Parliament and 
of the Council on the establishment of rules and procedures with regard to the 
introduction of noise-related operating restrictions at Union airports within a Balanced 
Approach and repealing Directive 2002/30/EC of the European Parliament and of the 
Council 

(Text with EEA relevance) 

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   EN 

 
 
 
  
 
 
 
2011/0398 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union 

concerning the 

position of the Council on the adoption of a Regulation of the European Parliament and 
of the Council on the establishment of rules and procedures with regard to the 
introduction of noise-related operating restrictions at Union airports within a Balanced 
Approach and repealing Directive 2002/30/EC of the European Parliament and of the 
Council 

1. 

BACKGROUND 

(Text with EEA relevance) 

Date of transmission of the proposal to the European Parliament and 
to the Council 
(document COM(2011) 828 final – 2011/398 COD): 

1 December 2011 

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

28 March 2012 

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

12 December 2012 

Date of transmission of the amended proposal: 

N/A 

Date of adoption of the position of the Council: 

24 March 2014 

2. 

OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSAL FROM THE COMMISSION 

The objective of the proposal is to to ensure a consistent application in the EU of the ICAO 
set of principles and guidance known as the "Balanced Approach" on noise management. It 
replaces  and  repeals  Directive  2002/30/EC,  the  current  basic  act  establishing  the  rules  and 
procedures  with  regard  to  the  introduction  of  noise-related  operating  restrictions  at  the  EU 
airports. 

The  new  rules  will  harmonize  the  various  steps  of  the  decision-making  process,  from 
evidence gathering on the basis of internationally recognized data and methods, over timely 
and  substantial  consultation  of  all  stakeholders;  to  providing  sufficiently  long  notification 
times for impacted operators. Ultimately, a strong process will drive towards finding the most 
cost-effective solutions to mitigate the noise impact. 

Another  element  of  the  proposal  is  the  definition  of  “marginally  compliant  aircraft”,  which 
are  the  noisiest  aircraft  in  the  fleet.  The  gradual  phasing-out  of  such  aircraft  can  be  a  quite 
cost-effective  measure  to  mitigate  noise:  their  phasing-out  relieves  the  citizens  living  in  the 
surroundings  of  airports,  whilst  it  still  allows  some  breathing  space  for  further  air  traffic 
growth. 

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3. 

COMMENTS ON THE POSITION OF THE COUNCIL 

The  position  of  the  Council  reflects  the  political  agreement  reached  between  the  European 
Parliament  and  the  Council  on  27 January 2014.  The  Commission  supports  this  agreement. 
The Commission has made one statement as a contribution to the agreement. 

The  main  amendments  of  the  Council  concern  the  increased  visibility  of  the  importance  of 
health, the introduction of a specific mediation process to conduct consultations, the delayed 
phased  out  of  'marginally  compliant  aircraft",  the  more  specific  provision  of  noise 
information, the deletion of a delegation to amend the definitions of aircraft and marginally 
compliant  aircraft,  and  implementation  issues,  including  a  grandfather  clause,  a  transition 
measure  and  the  delay  of  the  entry  into  force.  On  the  Commission  right  of  scrutiny,  the 
Council  position  obliges  the  Competent  Authority  to  examine  the  Commission  notification 
and to inform the Commission on its intentions.  

In  all,  the  position  of  the  Council  delivers  a  robust  process  for  noise  assessments.  The 
amendments  clarify  even  more  the  noise  assessment  and  decision-making  process  and  are 
nearly  all  in  line  with  the  original  Commission  proposal.  The  amendments  can  all  be 
accepted. 

4. 

DECLARATIONS BY THE COMMISSION 

The  Commission  has  made  one  statement  to  facilitate  the  agreement  between  Council  and 
Parliament which can be found in the annex. 

5. 

CONCLUSION 

The Commission supports the results of the inter-institutional negotiations and can therefore 
accept the Council's position at first reading. 

Statement by the Commission on the revision of Directive 2002/49/EC 

STATEMENT 

"The  Commission  is  discussing  with  the  Member  States  Annex  II  to  Directive  2002/49/EC 
(noise calculation methods) with a view to adopting it in the coming months. 

Based  on  work  the  World  Health  Organisation  is  currently  undertaking  regarding  the 
methodology  to  assess  health  implications  of  the  noise  impact,  the  Commission  intends  to 
revise  Annex  III  to  Directive  2002/49/  EC  (estimation  of  health  impact,  dose  response 
curves)."  

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