CELEX: 51998PC0509
Language: en
Date: 1998-09-14
Title: Amended proposal for a Council Directive on airport charges

C 319/4             EN                Official Journal of the European Communities                              16.10.98
                                                              II
                                                      (Preparatory Acts)
                                                COMMISSION
                            Amended proposal for a Council Directive on airport chargesØ(Î)
                                                       (98/C 319/04)
                                                  (Text with EEA relevance)
                                           COM(1998) 509 final — 97/0127(SYN)
             (Submitted by the Commission pursuant to Article 189a(2) of the EC Treaty on 14 September
                                                             1998)
             (Î)ÙOJ C 257, 22.8.1997, p. 2.
                   ORIGINAL PROPOSAL                                                  AMENDED PROPOSAL
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,                                 Unchanged
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 84(2) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and
Social Committee,
Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the
Regions,
Acting in accordance with the procedure provided for in
Article 189c of the Treaty in cooperation with the
European Parliament,
 1.ÙWhereas      the   Community        has    progressively
    introduced a common air transport policy, in
    particular for the purpose of completing the single
    market, under Article 7a of the Treaty;
 2.ÙWhereas the internal market comprises an area
    without internal borders in which the free movement
    of people, goods, services and capital is guaranteed;
                                                                    2a.ÙWhereas airports constitute an important part of
                                                                        infrastructure providing a service of general
                                                                        interest;
 ---pagebreak--- 16.10.98            EN                Official Journal of the European Communities                                C 319/5
                   ORIGINAL PROPOSAL                                               AMENDED PROPOSAL
 3.ÙWhereas a Community framework is needed to                  Unchanged
    ensure that fair and equitable market conditions
    apply both to users and passengers and to the
    owners and management bodies of airports;
 4.ÙWhereas, however, these rules must comply with the
    principle of proportionality in accordance with the
    third paragraph of Article 3b of the Treaty and
    should therefore be limited to the laying down of
    fundamental principles;
 5.ÙWhereas,      in     addition,    the     administrative     5.ÙWhereas,      in     addition,    the    administrative
    management and the financial situation of the                   management and the financial situation of the small
    smallest airports do not justify the application of the         airports do not justify the application of the
    Community framework;                                            Community framework;
 6.ÙWhereas, within this market, there should be no              6.ÙWhereas, within this market, there should be no
    discrimination between intra-Community flights for              discrimination between intra-Community flights for
    the provision of equivalent services;                           the provision of equivalent services;
 7.ÙWhereas airports may be managed as commercial                7.ÙWhereas airports should be managed as commercial
    undertakings which must strive to be efficient in               undertakings which must strive to be efficient in
    order to make their activities profitable and to better         order to make their activities profitable and to better
    satisfy market requirements and passengers’ needs;              satisfy market requirements and passengers’ needs;
 8.ÙWhereas, however, within that market, airports are           8.ÙWhereas, however, within that market, airports are
    exposed to limited competition;                                 exposed to limited competition and therefore,
                                                                    require appropriate monitoring measures with a view
                                                                    to the airports providing suitable and cost-effective
                                                                    services and facilities;
 9.ÙWhereas, among their various activities, the main            9.ÙWhereas, among their various activities, the main
    task of airports is to ensure the handling of aircraft          task of airports is to provide a quality service to
    from landing to take-off so as to enable users to               passengers, freight and mail and attend to aircraft
    carry out their air transport business;                         from landing to take-off so as to enable users to
                                                                    carry out their air transport business;
10.ÙWhereas, for this purpose, airports offer a certain         Unchanged
    number of facilities and services directly related to
    the operation of aircraft, the costs of which they
    must be able to cover;
11.ÙWhereas, unlike other types of airport revenue or
    charges which may be levied on users, airport
    charges provide compensation for the facilities and
    services provided by the airport;
12.ÙWhereas such services and facilities can, by their
    nature, only be provided by the airport itself;
    whereas, in view of this monopoly situation, the level
    of airport charges must be in relation to the costs
    borne for the provision of such facilities and services,
    taking into consideration the objective of economic
    and social cohesion;
 ---pagebreak--- C 319/6               EN               Official Journal of the European Communities                                    16.10.98
                      ORIGINAL PROPOSAL                                                 AMENDED PROPOSAL
13.ÙWhereas an airport must also be able to cover all of
     the costs required for its sound operation in terms of
     efficiency, safety and the environment by modulating
     the level of the charges;
14.ÙWhereas it is therefore important to ensure the
     transparency of the costs to which such services or
     facilities give rise; whereas, therefore, any changes
     made to the system or level of airport charges must
     be explained to airport users;
15.ÙWhereas, at the same time, to enable airports to
     fulfil their task of managing the facilities and better
     satisfying     users’   requirements,   the    airport’s
     management         body    must    receive    sufficient
     information regarding users’ forecasts and objectives
     concerning the airport;
16.ÙWhereas such changes or investment proposed by
     the airport must be explained in the framework of
     consultation procedures between the management
     bodies and airport users;
17.ÙWhereas the airport’s management body must be
     able to retain control of the management and
     funding of its facilities;
18.ÙWhereas it is necessary to take appropriate steps to
     ensure that infringements of Community law carry
     penalties which are effective, proportionate and
     dissuasive;
19.ÙWhereas this Directive should not affect the
     application of the provisions of the Treaty, and in
     particular Articles 85 to 94 thereof,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
                                                            Article 1
                                                        Aim and scope
The aim of this Directive is to ensure compliance with              The aim of this Directive is to ensure compliance with
the principles of non-discrimination, cost-relatedness and          the principles of non-discrimination, cost-relatedness and
transparency as regards airport charges.                            transparency as regards airport charges.
It applies to any airport or airport system located in a            It applies to any airport or airport system located in a
territory subject to the provisions of the Treaty and open          territory subject to the provisions of the Treaty and open
to commercial traffic. However, Articles 4 to 7 apply               to commercial traffic. However, Articles 4 to 7 apply
only to airports with annual traffic of at least 250Ø000            only to airports with annual traffic of at least 1 million
passenger movements or 25Ø000 tonnes of freight.                    passenger movements or 25Ø000 tonnes of freight.
 ---pagebreak--- 16.10.98              EN               Official Journal of the European Communities                                    C 319/7
                     ORIGINAL PROPOSAL                                                  AMENDED PROPOSAL
                                                           Article 2
                                                          Definitions
For the purposes of this Directive, the following defi-            For the purposes of this Directive, the following defi-
nitions shall apply:                                               nitions shall apply:
1.Ùairport means any land specially developed for the              1.Ùairport means any area of land especially adapted for
    landing, take-off and manoeuvring of aircraft,                     the landing, take-off and manoeuvring of aircraft,
    including any related facilities it may contain for                including the ancillary installations which these
    aircraft traffic and service requirements and the                  operations may involve for the requirements of
    facilities needed to accommodate commercial air                    aircraft traffic and services including the installations
    services;                                                          needed to assist commercial air services;
2. management body means the body which, whether or                2. management body means a body which, in conjunction
    not in conjunction with other activities, has the task             with other activities, or not as the case may be, has as
    under national laws or regulations of administering                its objective under national laws or regulations the
    and managing the airport facilities and coordinating               administration and management of the airport infra-
    and controlling the activities of the various operators            structures and the coordination and control of the
    present at the airport or within the airport system                activities of the different operators present in the
    concerned;                                                         airport, airport system or airport network concerned;
3. intra-Community air service means any commercial,               3. intra-Community air service means any commercial,
    scheduled or non-scheduled flight between two                      scheduled or non-scheduled flight between two
    Community airports;                                                Community airports;
4. airport charges means the sums collected at an airport          4. airport charges means the sums collected at an airport
    for the benefit of the management body and paid by                 for the benefit of the management body and paid by
    the airport’s users ensuring the remuneration of                   the airport’s users ensuring the remuneration of
    facilities and services which, by their nature, can only           facilities and services which, by their nature, can only
    be provided by the airport and which are related to                be provided by the airport and which are related to
    handling passengers and freight, landing, lighting,                handling passengers, freight and mail, landing,
    parking of aircraft and, where appropriate, the                    lighting, parking of aircraft and, where appropriate,
    security of passengers as well as the environmental                the security of passengers as well as the environmental
    effects of handling aircraft and passengers, excluding             effects of handling aircraft, passengers, freight and
    any amounts paid for air navigation or meteorological              mail, excluding any amounts paid for air navigation
    services;                                                          or meteorological services;
5. airport system means two or more airports grouped               5.Ùairport systemmeans two or more airports grouped
    together to serve the same city or conurbation, as                 together to serve the same city or conurbation, as
    defined in Article 2(m) of Council Regulation (EEC)                defined in Article 2(m) of Council Regulation (EEC)
    No 2408/92;                                                        No 2408/92;
                                                                   5a.Ùairport network means a system of airports grouped
                                                                         together and managed as an entity with the objective
                                                                         of promoting economic and social cohesion;
6.Ùairport user means any natural or legal person carrying         6. airport user means any natural or legal person
    passengers, mail and/or freight by air from or to the              operating aircraft carrying passengers, mail and/or
    airport concerned.                                                 freight by air from or to the airport concerned.
 ---pagebreak--- C 319/8              EN               Official Journal of the European Communities              16.10.98
                     ORIGINAL PROPOSAL                                         AMENDED PROPOSAL
                                                          Article 3
                                                     Non-discrimination
Member States shall take the measures necessary to                Unchanged
ensure that the same level of airport charges is applied at
airports to equivalent intra-Community air services in
terms of the aircraft type and/or characteristics, the
distance flown and/or the administrative and customs
formalities.
                                                          Article 4
                                                      Cost-relatedness
1.ÙÚMember States shall ensure that the level of airport          Unchanged
charges collected at airports or in the airport systems is
set in a reasonable relation to the overall cost of the
services and facilities which these charges are intended to
cover. When determining the level of such costs,
particular account shall be taken of:
(a)Ùthe cost of financing the facilities, including
     depreciation in the value of the assets during the
     period concerned and the financing of any facilities
     for which the project and the date of commencement
     of the works have been duly agreed and any admin-
     istrative permits, where appropriate, have been
     issued;
(b) the financial charges;
(c) the expenditure on operation and maintenance;
(d) the general administrative charges and various taxes;
(e) a reasonable return on the capital invested.
2.ÙÚWithout prejudice to the application of the
competition rules of the Treaty, the airport charges
applicable in the major national airport of a Member
State can be established at a level which permits the
management body, in order to promote economic and
social cohesion, to support financially the levels of
airport charges in regional airports in the same Member
State, on condition that:
(a)Ùthis financial support comes from revenue other than
     the airport charges in the major airport, and/or
 ---pagebreak--- 16.10.98               EN                Official Journal of the European Communities              C 319/9
                      ORIGINAL PROPOSAL                                           AMENDED PROPOSAL
(b) this support comes from airport charges, provided
     that they are established in conformity with
     paragraph 1, or
(c) otherwise, when the conditions referred to in points
     (a) and (b) are not fulfilled and when the subsidies
     granted by public authorities are not sufficient, the
     regional airports concerned have an annual traffic of
     less than 300Ø000 passenger movements or 30Ø000
     tonnes of freight and on condition that the annual
     traffic of transfer or transit passengers at the major
     airport represent at least 5Ø% of the total traffic at
     that airport.
3.ÙÚThe costs shall be determined using the principles
of accounting and evaluation generally accepted in each
of the Member States.
                                                             Article 5
                                                           Modulations
1.ÙÚBy derogation from Article 4, the management                     Unchanged
bodies may include the external environmental costs due
to air traffic and modulate the charges to reflect the
requirements in terms of management of the airport
facilities or any changes in demand and use of the
airport during a given period.
Member States shall ensure that the modulations are not
designed to generate additional revenue for the airport.
2.ÙÚThe management body may also, as part of its
commercial policy,
(a)Ùtake account of all or part of its income that is not
     derived from airport charges when establishing the
     total level of its airport charges;
(b) grant discounts in conformity with the provisions of
     the Treaty.
3.ÙÚAny modulation in the level of the airport charges
shall be applied in a transparent and non-discriminatory
manner.
 ---pagebreak--- C 319/10            EN                 Official Journal of the European Communities                                    16.10.98
                    ORIGINAL PROPOSAL                                                  AMENDED PROPOSAL
                                                           Article 6
                                                        Transparency
1.ÙÚIn order to improve the quality of the service                 Unchanged
provided to airport users, Member States shall ensure
that the management bodies provide each airport user
with information on the components serving as a basis
for determining the level of the airport charges. This
information shall include:
(a)Ùa clear list of the various services provided by the           (a)Ùa clear list of the various services and infrastructure
    airport in return for the airport charge levied; and               facilities provided by the airport in return for the
                                                                       airport charge levied, and
(b) the method of calculation used by the management               (b) the method of calculation used by the management
    body.                                                              body.
2.ÙÚThe management body shall in particular provide                (Deleted)
airport users or the associations representing them with
information concerning:
(a)Ùthe amount of each category of airport charge                  (c)Ùthe amount of each category of airport charge
    collected at the airport;                                          collected at the airport;
(b) the total number of staff deployed to services which           (d) the total number of staff deployed to services which
    give rise to the collection of airport charges,                    give rise to the collection of airport charges,
(c) forecasts of the situation at the airport as regards           (e) forecasts of the situation at the airport as regards
    airport charges, traffic growth and any proposed                   airport charges, traffic growth and any proposed
    investments.                                                       investments.
3.ÙÚMember States shall ensure that airport users                  2.ÙÚMember States shall ensure that airport users
submit information to the management body concerning               submit information to the management body concerning
in particular:                                                     in particular:
(a)Ùforecasts as regards traffic,                                  (a)Ùforecasts as regards traffic,
(b) forecasts as to the composition of their fleet,                (b) forecasts as to the composition of their fleet
                                                                       operating at the airport concerned,
(c) their development projects at the airport,                     (c) their development projects at the airport,
(d) their requirements at the airport concerned.                   (d) their requirements at the airport concerned.
                                                           Article 7
                                                Consultation and legal remedy
1.ÙÚMember States shall take the necessary measures to             1.ÙÚThe management body at each airport, airport
arrange, at each airport, a procedure for consultation             system or airport network shall arrange for consultation
between the management body and airport users. The                 between the management body and airport users or
aim is to seek the views of airport users before the               representatives of airport users. The aim is to explain to
decision to modify the system or the level of airport              users the reasons for any proposal to modify the system
charges is taken. These views do not bind the authority            or the level of airport charges, to seek users’ views and
responsible for taking a decision with regard to the               to take users’ views into account before any decision is
airport charges.                                                   taken by the management body.
 ---pagebreak--- 16.10.98            EN                Official Journal of the European Communities                                  C 319/11
                   ORIGINAL PROPOSAL                                                  AMENDED PROPOSAL
                                                                  These views do not bind the authority responsible for
                                                                  taking a decision with regard to the airport charges.
Such consultation shall be held at least once a year.             Such consultation shall be held whenever it is proposed
                                                                  to vary the charges and, at all events, at least once a
                                                                  year.
                                                                  1a.ÙÚMember States shall also ensure that the
                                                                  management body provides information relating to new
                                                                  infrastructure projects prior to finalisation of plans. This
                                                                  information shall be provided in order to make moni-
                                                                  toring of costs of infrastructure possible and with the
                                                                  view to provide suitable and cost-effective facilities at the
                                                                  airport concerned.
2.ÚÙMember States shall take the necessary steps to               2.ÙÙÙMember States shall take the necessary measures to
ensure that an airport informs airport users or the               ensure that a management body begins consultation with
organisations representing them of any decision to                airport users or representatives of airport users at least
change the system or level of airport charges at least two        three months before it is proposed to change the system
months before the change takes effect.                            or the level of airport charges. Following such consul-
                                                                  tation, the management body shall inform airport users
                                                                  or representatives of airport users of its decision and the
                                                                  reasons for it at least one month before the change takes
                                                                  effect.
3.ÙÚMember States shall also ensure that, in the event            3.ÙÚIn the event of a disagreement over a decision on
of disagreement over the decision, airport users are able         airport charges, Member States shall ensure that a party
to request to be consulted a second time.                         may seek legal remedy against the decision before a
                                                                  national court or a public authority other than the
                                                                  management body of the airport concerned and, where
                                                                  appropriate, independent of the public authority
                                                                  controlling it.
                                                          Article 8
                                                         Penalties
Member States shall lay down a system of penalties                Unchanged
applicable in the event of infringement of the national
provisions transposing this Directive and shall take all
necessary steps to ensure their implementation. The
penalties shall be effective, proportionate and dissuasive.
Member States shall notify the Commission of those
provisions before 1 January 2002 and of any subsequent
amendment relating thereto as soon as possible.
                                                          Article 9
                                                      Implementation
1.ÙÚMember States shall bring into force the laws,                Unchanged
regulations and administrative provisions necessary to
conform with this Directive before 1 January 2002. They
shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof.
 ---pagebreak--- C 319/12            EN                Official Journal of the European Communities              16.10.98
                   ORIGINAL PROPOSAL                                           AMENDED PROPOSAL
When Member States adopt these provisions, these shall
contain a reference to this Directive or shall be accom-
panied by such reference at the time of their official
publication. The procedure for such reference shall be
adopted by Member States.
2.ÙÚMember States shall communicate to the
Commission the text of the essential provisions of
domestic law which they adopt in the field covered by
this Directive. The Commission shall inform the other
Member States thereof.
                                                          Article 10
                                                     Report and revision
1.ÙÚThe Commission shall submit a report to the                    Unchanged
European Parliament and the Council on the operation
of this Directive before 1 January 2004 as well as, when
appropriate, any suitable proposal.
2.ÙÚMember States and the Commission shall cooperate
in the application of this Directive, particularly as
regards the collection of information for the report
mentioned in paragraph 1.
                                                          Article 11
                                                       Entry into force
This Directive shall enter into force on the 20th day              Unchanged
following that of its publication in the Official Journal of
the European Communities.
                                                          Article 12
                                                          Addressees
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.                  Unchanged