CELEX: 51988PC0126
Language: en
Date: 1988-03-09
Title: AMENDMENT TO THE PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DIRECTIVE AMENDING COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 83/416/EEC CONCERNING THE AUTHORIZATION OF SCHEDULED INTER-REGIONAL AIR SERVICES FOR THE TRANSPORT OF PASSENGERS, MAIL AND CARGO BETWEEN MEMBER STATES

25. 3. 88                              Official Journal of the European Communities                       No C 78/7
                                                              II
                                                      (Preparatory Acts)
                                                 COMMISSION
             Amendment to the proposal for a Council Directive amending Council Directive 83/416/EEC
             concerning the authorization of scheduled inter-regional air services for the transport of,
                                   passengers, mail and cargo between Member States (')
                                                     COM(88) 126 final
             (Submitted by the Commission pursuant to Article 149 (3) of the EEC Treaty on 11 March 1988)
                                                        (88/C 78/08)
             0) OJ No C 240, 24. 9. 1986, p. 7.
                     ORIGINAL PROPOSAL                                             AMENDED PROPOSAL
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European             unchanged
Economic Community, and in particular Article 84 (2)
thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                unchanged
Having regard      to   the   opinion   of   the  European        unchanged
Parliament,
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                  unchanged
Social Committee ('),
Whereas Council Directive 83/416/EEC (2), as amended              unchanged
by Directive 86/216/EEC (}), establishes a Community
procedure for authorizing scheduled interregional air
services between Member States;
Whereas this represents a significant step towards the             unchanged
completion of the internal market;
Whereas the system set up by the Directive is of an                unchanged
experimental nature and Article 13 of the Directive
therefore provides for the Council to review the
operation of the Directive before 1 July 1986 on the
basis of reports furnished by the Commission;
 (') OJ No C 105, 21. 4. 1987, p. 4.
 (2) OJ No L 237, 26. 8. 1983, p. 19.
 (») OJ No L 152, 6. 6. 1986, p. 47.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 78/8                               Official Journal of the European Communities                             25. 3. 88
                      ORIGINAL PROPOSAL                                               AMENDED PROPOSAL
Whereas experience has shown that only a few services              unchanged
have been authorized in accordance with the provisions
of the Directive, and that it would therefore be desirable
to give air carriers greater scope to develop markets and
thereby contribute to the evolution of the intra-
Community network;
Whereas it is particularly important to encourage the              This paragraph is deleted
development of services between regional airports and
major airports so that the Community network can
grow;
Whereas restrictions on the minimum stage — length for             This paragraph is deleted
an air journey deprive Community carriers of the oppor-
tunity to offer air services, and air travellers of the
choice to use them;
Whereas common rules should promote the development                unchanged
of direct services between the various regions in the
Community rather than indirect services;
Whereas a direct service between two airports should not           unchanged
be rejected when an air service between neighbouring
airports exists;
Whereas it is desirable to extend the period of auth-              unchanged
orizations to five years in order to allow airlines to
recuperate the costs of development of a new service;
Whereas the potential traffic from some regional airports          unchanged
is small but viable services can be operated from such
 airports when combined with services to other regional
 airports in the Community, with consequent energy and
 cost savings;
Whereas States affected should be empowered to ensure              unchanged
 a certain stability in inter-regional air services;
                                                                   add the following paragraph:
                                                                   'Whereas provisions should be made for rapid consul-
                                                                   tation between Member States in the case of any
                                                                   disagreement and for procedures for settling such
                                                                   disagreements regarding approval of tariffs as are not
                                                                   resolved by consultations;'
 Whereas airlines should be allowed to operate inter-              unchanged
 regional air services only if government controls of
 economic and technical fitness are adequate;
 Whereas Directive 83/416/EEC should be amended                     unchanged
 accordingly,
 ---pagebreak--- 25. 3. 88                               Official Journal of the European Communities                                No C 78/9
                       ORIGINAL PROPOSAL                                                  AMENDED PROPOSAL
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
                            Article 1                                                          Article 1
Directive 83/416/EEC is hereby amended as follows:                Directive 83/416/EEC is hereby amended as follows:
1. Article 1 is amended as follows:                                1. Article 1 is amended as follows:
     (i) point (a) is deleted;                                        (i)    unchanged
                                                                      (i a) point (b) is replaced by the following:
                                                                             '(b) by aircraft which have capacity of not more
                                                                                   than 70 passenger seats;'
   (ii) (c) is replaced by the following:                             (ii) (c) is replaced by the following:
         '(c) between airports in the Community of                         '(c) between airports in the Community of
              category 2 and 2 of category 2 and 1 which                         category 2 and 2, which are open to interna-
              are open to international scheduled traffic.                       tional scheduled traffic. The classification of
              The classification of airports is contained in                     airports is contained in Annex A.'
              Annex A.'
2. Article 3 is replaced by the following:                        2. Article 3:
    'Article 3                                                        unchanged
    1. The home State of the air carrier concerned, if it
   gives its approval, shall forward the application for an
   inter-regional air service to the State(s) affected.
   2. The State(s) affected shall authorize the air
   carrier concerned to operate such an inter-regional air
   service if it conforms to the provisions of this
   Directive.
   3. When the home State forwards an application
   for an inter-regional air service to the State(s)
   affected, the State(s) affected shall, within three
   months of receipt, reach a decision either authorizing
   the service applied for or refusing it on the grounds
   provided for in this Directive and notify the home
   State and the Commission of the decision.'
3. Article 4 is replaced by the following:                        3. Article 4 is replaced by the following:
    Article 4                                                          Article 4
   An inter-regional air service shall not be approved                An inter-regional air service shall not be approved
   under the terms of this Directive unless the point of              under the terms of this Directive unless the point of
   origin of the service is located in the home State of              origin of the service is located in the home State of
   the air carrier. An inter-regional air service between             the air carrier. An inter-regional air service between
   two or more Member States other than an air carrier's              two or more Member States other than an air carrier's
   home State shall however be approved in accordance                 home State shall however be approved in accordance
   with the provisions of this Directive where such a                 with the provisions of this Directive where such a
   service constitutes an extension of a service to or from           service constitutes an extension of a service to or from
   an air carrier's home State and where an indirect                  the air carrier's home State.'
   service between two category 1 airports is not estab-
   lished.'
 ---pagebreak--- No C 78/10                              Official Journal of the European Communities                                  25. 3. 88
                       ORIGINAL PROPOSAL                                                   AMENDED PROPOSAL
4. In Article 5 (2) 'three years' is replaced by 'five years'.     4. Article 5 (2):
                                                                      unchanged
5. In Article 6, paragraphs 1 (c) and 2 are replaced by
   the following:                                                  5. Article 6, paragraphs 1(c) and 2:
   '(c) the proposed tariffs do not need the requirements
         of Article 7.                                             unchanged
   2.     A State affected may impose as a condition of
   authorization that the applicant Community air
   carrier shall undertake to operate the service in
   question for 12 months, or for two seasons in the case
   of a purely seasonal service.'
                                                                   5 (a) Article 7 of the Directive is replaced by the
                                                                          following:
                                                                           'Article 7
                                                                          1.     The home State and the State affected shall
                                                                          approve the tariffs charged by an air carrier on a
                                                                          given inter-regional air service without outside
                                                                          subsidy on the basis that they:
                                                                          (a) are in reasonable proportion to the costs of
                                                                               the air carrier's operations for that service
                                                                               without direct or indirect state aid, while
                                                                               permitting a satisfactory return on capital; and
                                                                          (b) do not have the character of dumping.
                                                                          2.     When the home State or the State affected
                                                                          (the first State) decides, in conformity with the
                                                                          first paragraph, not to approve a tariff, it shall
                                                                          inform the other State (the second State) in
                                                                          writing within 21 days of the tariff being filed,
                                                                          stating its reasons.
                                                                          If the second State disagrees with the decision of
                                                                          the first State, the arbitration procedure laid down
                                                                          in Article 7 paragraphs 2 to 9 of Directive
                                                                           87/601/EEC of 14 December 1987 on fares for
                                                                          scheduled air services between Member States (x)
                                                                          shall apply.'
                                                                   O OJ No L 374, 31. 12. 1987, p. 12.
6. Article 9 is replaced by the following:                         6. Article 9:
     'Article 9                                                       unchanged
    1.     The provisions of this Directive shall not
    prejudice the laws and regulations of the Member
    States, applicable either nationally, regionally or
    locally, concerning the protection of the environment
    or social conditions, nor matters related to the
    location, operation or safety of airports or their
    facilities. Such laws and regulations shall not,
    however, discriminate against inter-regional air
    services.
 ---pagebreak--- 25. 3. 88                                Official Journal of the European Communities                            No C 78/11
                       ORIGINAL PROPOSAL                                                 AMENDED PROPOSAL
   2.     The home State shall ensure and regularly verify
   that an air carrier operating a service under this
   Directive is economically and technically fit and shall
   refuse or withdraw the authorization if it is dissat-
   isfied with the results of this verification.
   3.     Member States shall without delay inform the
   Commission of incidents and accidents involving
   aircraft operating a service authorized under this
   Directive in a form corresponding to that of the
   accident/incident data reporting form drawn up by
   the International Civil Aviation Organization. The
   Commission shall include information in this respect
   in its annual report pursuant to Article 12.'
7. In Article 13, '1986' is replaced by '1989'.                     7. Article 13:
                                                                       unchanged
8. Annex A is replaced by the Annex to this Directive               8. Annex:
                                                                       unchanged
                          Article 2                                                        Article 2
1.    The Member States shall, after consultation with              1.   The Member States shall, after consultation with
the Commission, take the necessary steps to amend their             the Commission, take the necessary steps to amend their
laws, regulations and administrative provisions to bring            laws, regulations and administrative provisions to bring
them into conformity with this Directive not later than             them into conformity with this Directive not later than
1 January 1987.                                                     1 July 1988.
2.    Member States shall communicate to the                        2.    unchanged
Commission all laws and administrative provisions made
in furtherance of this Directive.
                          Article 3                                                        Article 3
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.                   unchanged