European air transport policies – the need for a truly “One Sky Europe”
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly debate on 27 June 2000 (18th Sitting) (see Doc. 8759, report of the Committee on Economic Affairs and Development, rapporteur: Mr Billing). Text adopted by the Assembly on 27 June 2000 (18thSitting).
- Thesaurus
1. At a time of rapidly growing demand for air
transport, Europe’s scattered air traffic management framework is in urgent
need of a fundamental overhaul and full, continent-wide integration. The
current critical situation of long, and worsening, air traffic delays causes
massive economic losses to all market participants. It is due mainly to
insufficient co-ordination between air traffic control centres and insufficient
route and airspace structures across national borders. This situation can no
longer be accepted, at a time when passengers should be at the centre of air
transport concerns; when Europe’s future growing together critically depends on
efficient, but safe, air transport; and when the technology in the form of
satellite navigation and computer capacity is readily available to make “one
sky Europe” a reality.
2. The Assembly recognises the valiant efforts of the European Civil
Aviation Conference (ECAC) and Eurocontrol to prevent delays from worsening
even further within the parameters of the present framework. In particular, it
sees the new, revised Eurocontrol Convention as a major step forward in the
direction of an integrated air traffic management (ATM) system. It calls for
the convention’s rapid ratification by all member states, with a view to its
early entry into force. The Assembly also calls for the European Union’s speedy
membership of Eurocontrol, not least in consideration of the EU’s active role
on behalf of ATM integration.
3. However, the ECAC and Eurocontrol member states, which over the past
decade have liberalised the airline industry, must now do the same with ATM in
looking beyond national prerogatives toward a Europe in urgent need of a
continent-wide, seamless and fully integrated ATM system design. Action is
particularly urgent in the bottleneck region of Switzerland, Italy, Spain and
France, where most delays originate and quickly spread and amplify across the
continent.
4. A better functioning ATM system will also require the separation between
ATM service providers, who, whether private or public, should be independent of
governments, and a European ATM regulatory authority, preferably Eurocontrol.
The latter should remain responsible for safety, optimal air space use,
economic efficiency and interoperability between system components.
5. The Assembly welcomes the ECAC’s and Eurocontrol’s widening membership in
central and eastern Europe, whose full participation in “one sky Europe” is
vital to the continent’s future, including successful European Union
enlargement. To the extent that a “one sky Europe” can be put into place
rapidly, the ECAC and Eurocontrol must receive funds commensurate with
increased tasks.
6. Beyond the urgent need for a “one sky Europe”, the future of Europe’s air
transport industry will also increasingly depend on increased airport capacity
– including better road/rail access and check-in facilities – and, where
appropriate, continued healthy competition in the air transport industry. There
remains an urgent need for an integrated strategic approach towards a European
transport system, in which railroads in particular could become a viable
alternative to mid-distance air travel.
7. Finally, the Assembly calls on the ECAC to establish, in co-operation
with the European Union, a charter of air passenger rights applicable in all
ECAC member countries, especially as regards compensation for undue delays and
flight cancellations that are the fault of airlines, overbooking, and in the
application of the rights of passengers with reduced mobility or children. The
Assembly in this context welcomes the ECAC’s work toward an agreement on the
treatment of such persons and hopes it can be brought to a speedy
conclusion.
