- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly debate on 18 May 1973 (8th Sitting) (see Doc. 3275, report of the Committee on Economic Affairs and Development). Text adopted by the Assembly on 18 May 1973 (8th Sitting).
The Assembly,
1. Considering the report of its Committee on Economic Affairs and Development on civil aviation in Europe (
Doc. 3275) ;
2. Recalling that the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) was set up as a result of an initiative of the Assembly, greatly appreciating the continued maintenance of close relations between ECAC and the Council of Europe, and looking forward to their further reinforcement ;
3. Convinced of the great value to Europe of the work which has been undertaken hitherto by ECAC in facilitating European air transport operations ;
4. Attaching great importance to ECAC's remaining an independent European intergovernmental organisation concerned with the regulation of civil air transport in Europe, as well as to a further development of the scope of its activities in the light of rapidly changing technical, operational, financial and environmental problems in this field ;
5. Stressing the need for European governmental action in the civil air transport field to be inspired by the need to give first place to the interests of the users and potential users of such transport - including those whose main need is for cheap holiday travel - rather than to narrower airline pressure group interests ;
6. Believing that the European Communities have a particularly important role to play in securing greater cooperation than hitherto between their national flag-carrying airlines with a view to ensuring a Community approach to a coordinated and progressive multilateral liberalisation of air traffic rights (as advocated in Assembly
Recommendation 391 (1964)) in Community member States for air carriers of those countries, and in concerting measures to favour, possibly within the framework of the European Space Agency to be established by January 1974, joint European aero-space construction projects with a view to ensuring the continued development of a strong and competitive European aerospace industry ;
7. Underlining the need for ECAC to reach an early agreement with the US and Canadian civil aviation authorities which will permit of some effective control of the capacity offered on scheduled air services on the North Atlantic ;
8. Attaching great importance not only to the maintenance of existing safety standards, whether of aircraft or on the ground, but also to their improvement ;
9. Underlining that the balance must be held between the interests of the customers of civil air transport services and the environmental interests of the community as a whole ;
10. Recalling Assembly Resolutions 511 (1972) and 512 (1972), and urging member States to plan their airport construction policy with over-riding regard to environmental (noise) considerations, and to take the necessary planning and development measures early enough to secure that these considerations can be fully respected ;
11. Calling upon the member States of ECAC which have not already done so to ratify urgently the Tokyo, Hague and Montreal Conventions as a further step in curbing air piracy,
12. Thanks the European Civil Aviation Conference for the transmission of the latter's replies to Assembly
Resolution 470 (1970) and to the views expressed in the accompanying report (
Doc. 2738), and requests ECAC to inform it of the follow-up it has given to the proposals to which the present resolution makes reference, and which are further developed, in the report mentioned in paragraph 1 above.
