CELEX: 51989PC0373(01)
Language: en
Date: 1989-09-08
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL REGULATION ( EEC ) ON FARES FOR SCHEDULED AIR SERVICES

11. 10. 89                            Official Journal of the European Communities                              No C 258/3
                                                              II
                                                      (Preparatory Acts)
                                                 COMMISSION
                       Proposal for a Council Regulation (EEC) on fares for scheduled air services
                                                     COM(89) 373 final
                                    (Submitted by the Commission on 8 September 1989)
                                                        (89/C 258/04)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                          Whereas it is appropriate to provide for a procedure
                                                                  according to which Member States may ask the
                                                                  Commission's opinion on the conformity of a proposed
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
                                                                  air fare with the criteria laid down;
Economic Community, and in particular Article 84 (2)
thereof,
                                                                  Whereas in case of excessively high or low air fares the
                                                                  Commission must be able to suspend the application of
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                an air fare;
Having regard       to  the  opinion    of   the  European        Whereas Member States in accordance with the
Parliament,                                                       provisions of the Treaty may not approve fares which are
                                                                  contrary to the competition rules;
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and
Social Committee,                                                 Whereas        this    Regulation     replaces    Directive
                                                                  87/601/EEC; whereas it is therefore necessary to repeal
                                                                  that Directive,
Whereas it is important to adopt measures with the aim
of progressively establishing the internal market over a
period expiring on 31 December 1992 as provided for in            HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 8a of the Treaty; whereas the internal market
shall comprise an area without internal frontiers in which
the free movement of goods, persons, services and                                     Scope and definitions
capital is ensured;
                                                                                            Article 1
                                                                  This Regulation shall apply to criteria and procedures to
Whereas Council Directive 87/601/EEC (') made a first
                                                                  be applied with respect to the establishment of scheduled
step towards the liberalization in respect of air fares,
                                                                  air fares charged on routes within the Community and
necessary to achieve the internal market in air transport;
                                                                  between the Community and third countries.
whereas the Council agreed to take further measures of
liberalization at the end of a three year initial period;
                                                                                            Article 2
Whereas a system of double disapproval of air fares is an         For the purposes of this Regulation:
important element in achieving further liberalization;
                                                                  (a) scheduled air fares means the prices to be paid in the
Whereas it is appropriate to establish clear criteria                 applicable national currency for the carriage of
according to which the Member States' authorities have                passengers and baggage on scheduled air services
to evaluate proposed air fares;                                       and the conditions under which those prices apply,
                                                                      including remuneration and conditions offered to
                                                                      agency and other auxiliary services;
Whereas certain of these criteria should be applied not
only to fares on routes within the Community but also to
fares on routes to and from the Community;                        (b) scheduled air service means a series of flights each
                                                                      possessing all the following characteristics:
                                                                       (i) it is performed by aircraft for the transport of
(') OJ No L 374, 31. 12. 1987, p. 12.                                      passengers or passengers and cargo and/or mail
 ---pagebreak---   No C 258/4                                 Official Journal of the European Communities                                11. 10. 89
              for remuneration, in such a manner that on each                                      Criteria
              flight seats are available for purchase by
              members of the public (either directly from the                                      Article 3
              air carrier or from its authorized agents);
                                                                         1.   Member States shall approve scheduled air fares of
                                                                        Community air carriers if they are reasonably related to
        (ii) it is operated so as to serve traffic between the          the long-term fully allocated relevant costs of the
              same two or more points, either:                          applicant air carrier, including the need for a satisfactory
              1. according to a published timetable; or                 return on capital and for an adequate cost margin to
              2. with flights so regular or frequent that they          ensure a satisfactory technical and safety standard.
                  constitute a recognisably systematic series;
 ( c ) flight means a departure from a specified airport                2.   In approving air fares pursuant to paragraph 1
        towards a specified destination airport;                        Member States shall consider the needs of consumers
                                                                        and the competitive market situation.
 (d) air carrier means an air transport enterprise with a
       valid operating licence to operate scheduled air
        services;                                                       3.   The fact that a proposed air fare is lower than that
                                                                       offered by another air carrier operating on the route
                                                                       concerned shall not be sufficient reason for withholding
 (e) Community air carrier means:                                       approval.
         (i) an air carrier which has its central administration
             and principal place of business in the                    4.    Member States shall, in particular, examine in
             Community, the majority of whose shares are               detail a proposed air fare which is 20 % higher or lower
             owned by nationals of Member States and/or                than the corresponding fare in force during the previous
             Member States and which is effectively                    corresponding season. A Member State may in this
             controlled by such persons or States, or                  respect for an air fare within the Community initiate the
                                                                       procedure laid down in Article 5.
       (ii) an air carrier which, although it does not meet
             the definition set out in (i), at the time of
             adoption of this Regulation:
                                                                       5.    Without prejudice to Article 5 (1), a Member State
             1. either has its central administration and              shall permit a Community air carrier operating a direct
                 principal place of business in the Community          or indirect scheduled air service within the Community,
                 and has been providing scheduled or                   having given due notice to the States concerned, to
                 non-scheduled air services in the Community           match an air fare already approved between the same
                 during the 12 months prior to adoption of             city pairs. This provision shall not apply to indirect air
                 this Regulation; or                                   services which exceed the length of the shortest direct
             2. has been providing scheduled air services              service by more than 20 %.
                 between Member States on the basis of third-
                 and fourth-freedom traffic rights during the
                 12 months prior to adoption of this Regu-
                 lation.                                               6.    Only Community air carriers shall be entitled to
                                                                       introduce lower air fares than the existing ones on routes
                                                                      within the Community.
             The air carriers which meet the above criteria
             are listed in the Annex;
(f) a third-freedom traffic right means the right for an air                                     Procedures
       carrier established in one State to put down, in the
       territory of another State, passengers, freight and                                        Article 4
       mail taken up in the State in which it is registered;           1.    Scheduled air fares shall be subject to approval by
                                                                      the aeronautical authorities of the State(s) concerned. T o
       a fourth-freedom traffic right means the right for an          this end, an air carrier shall submit its proposed air fares
       air carrier established in one State to take on, in the        in the form prescribed by those authorities.
       territory of another State, passengers, freight and
       mail for off-loading in the State in which it is
       registered;
                                                                      2.     Aeronautical authorities shall not require air
                                                                      carriers to submit their fares in respect of routes within
(g) States concerned mean the States between which a                  the Community more than 60 days before they come
       scheduled air service is operated;                             into effect.
 ---pagebreak---  11. 10. 89                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                          No C 258/5
3.    A fare for a route within the Community shall be                                                 Article 7
considered as approved unless, within 30 days of the
date of its submission, both authorities have notified in                In carrying out the duties assigned to it under this Regu-
writing their disapproval to the applicant air carrier,                  lation, the Commission may obtain all necessary infor-
stating their reasons. The authorities shall also inform                 mation from the Member States and air carriers
each other.                                                              concerned.
4.    An air fare for a route within the Community, once                                               Article 8
approved, shall remain in force until it expires or is                   1.    The Commission shall publish a report on the
replaced. It may however be prolonged after its original                 application of this Regulation by 1 October 1992 and
date of expiry for a period not exceeding 12 months.                     every second year thereafter.
                          Article 5                                      2.    Member States and the Commission shall cooperate
                                                                         in implementing this Regulation, particularly as regards
1.    A Member State concerned or an air carrier on the                  collection of information for the report referred to in
same route may request the Commission to give an                         paragraph 1.
opinion on whether a scheduled air fare conforms with
paragraph 1 of Article 3. The Commission shall                           3.    Confidential information obtained in application of
forthwith inform the other Member State and the air                      this Regulation shall be covered by professional secrecy.
carrier concerned and give them the opportunity to
submit their observations.                                                                             Article 9
                                                                        Where a Member State has concluded an agreement with
2.    The Commission shall give an opinion within two
                                                                         one or more third countries which contains provisions
months of having received the request. This period may
                                                                        which are incompatible with this Regulation, the
be prolonged to the extent necessary in order to obtain
                                                                         Member State shall, at the first opportunity, take all
sufficient further information from the applicant air
                                                                         appropriate steps to eliminate such incompatibilities.
carrier. During its examination of the request and until
                                                                        Until such time as the incompatibilities have been elim-
seven days thereafter the Commission may suspend the
                                                                         inated, this Regulation shall not affect the rights and
application of an air fare which is 20 % higher or lower
                                                                         obligations vis-d-vis third countries arising from such an
than the corresponding fare in force during the previous
                                                                         agreement.
corresponding season.
                                                                                                      Article 10
                    General provisions
                                                                         Directive 87/601/EEC is hereby repealed.
                          Article 6
                                                                                                      Artikel 11
At least once a year, the Commission shall consult on
scheduled air fares and related matters with represen-                  This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 1991.
tatives of air transport user organizations in the
Community, for which purpose the Commission shall                       This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and
supply appropriate information to the participants.                      directly applicable in all Member States.
                                                                 ANNEX
                                             Air carriers referred to in Article 2 (e) (ii)
             The following air carriers meet the criteria referred to in Article 2 (e) (ii) as long as they are recognized as
             a national carrier by the Member State which so recognizes them at the time of the adoption of this
             Regulation:
             — Scandinavian Airlines System,
             — Britannia Airways,
             — Monarch Airlines.