B I I . Explanatory Memorandum
by M. VOS
1
1. The third Session of E.C.A.C. to ok
place in Stra sbour g from 9th to 20th March
1959, atthein vitation of the Assembly. Among
t h e numerous subjects on the Agenda was
Resolution 141 adopted by the Assembly in
October 1957. The various matters raised
in the Resolution were referred to t h e appropriate commissions, which carefully considered
t he Assembly' s proposals
2. While recognising the Council of Europe ' s competence in general questions of
facilitation (abolition of frontier formalities),
E. C. A. C.asserted its claim to be the only
intergovern mentalorganisation competent in
theparticular field of airportfacilitation . This
claim had been up held , in asmuchas the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has
instructed its Committee of Senior Officials
on Frontier Formalities to drop airport formalities from its Agenda. At the same time,
E. C. A. C. appealed tootherorganisations for
support in securing implementation of its
recommendations on airport facilitation , and
aparagraphto this effect is the refore included
in the draft Recommendation.
3. Thanks to Resolution 141, theproblem
of passenger service charges appearedont Agenda of the Economic Sub - committee of
the Conference. As the levy of passenger
service charges has been approved by the
Council of I. C. A. 0 . , the Conference felt
t h a t it could do no more at the present time
than recommend that member Governments
ensurethat the collection of these charges
should create as littlein convenience as possible
to passengers. The implementation by member
countries of ECAC recommendations on
facilitation are in principle reviewed every
secondy earand , since pass enger service charges
are in effect amatter of facilitation , the effects
of this recommendation should in due course
be t h e subject of areport.
4. Resolution 141 reflected t h e Assemb
l y ' s interest in the proposals made at
E. C. A. C.'s second Session on closer co-operat
i o n in t r a i n i n g . We felt that toinstruct trainees of different nationalities in the same
schools was an excellent means of promoting the European idea. Above all, however,
i t was felt that this could lead to a more ration al
use of thever y expensive training equipment needed. There is therefore every reason
to welcome the Conference's new proposals
for the stand ardisation of training curricula
and training material and the exchange of
instructors — particularly for pilotsandradar -
controller
5. Up to now, interchange of aircraft
and crews has only been in use to a limited
extent in Europe. With the move-over to
t h e use of jet aircraft, however, and closer
co - operation between airlines, this aspect of
rationalisation is likely to become increasingly
important . I. C. A. 0 . recognises this , and in
a recent reporton the economic implications
of the introduction into service of long-range
je taircraft it state sthat " theproblem of
maintainings atisfactory utilisation figures for
both aircraft and crews on routes of low density , and the relatively high price of longrange jet aircraft, may accentuat ethe desirability of arrangements between airlines for the interchange of aircraft an dcrews ".
6. Fruitful co-operation among airlines
through the pooling of resources and interc change of services, etc., will also require a harmonisation of rules and regulations in civil
avition . Although theannexes to the Chicago
Convention provide a framework for such
rules and regulations , there stille xist differences
as between one country to another , for example,
as regards airworthiness codes. In view
of the very great importance which international trade in aircraft is bound to acquire
over the next five years or so, as Europe an
operators build up their jet - fleets and the aircombines
try to stand ardisetheir equipment,
aparagraph has been in cluded in the Recommendation on theadoption of a draft multilateral agreement on the issue or t h e validat
i o n of airworthiness certificates for aircraft
constructed in one country and exported to
another . This agreement is designed to simplify intra - Europeantrade in aircraft . While
Governments should be urged to put the agreem
entinto application as soon as possible, it
must be recognised that its scope will be relatively limited solongas the United States have
not become apartyto it. Moreover, while it
is truethat the Conference decided that the
agreement might be open for adherence to all
ICAO member countries atthe end of two years,
i t may be questioned whetherthis period is
not too long or, indeed, whether it was wise
a t all to restrict it to ECAO countries.
7. On the most important issue of all,
theliberalisationof scheduled air services for
passengers , cargo and mail, t h e work of t he
third Session was, naturally , affected by the
prep a rations for Air - Union . Although tojud ge
by the support given to a new Dut chproposal table dat the third Session, the number of
countries in favour of a multilateral agreement
had grown since previous sessions, the Conference
ended by recognising that this method
of tacklingth eproblem had to be abandon ed
for the time being. A different approach,
basedon theins titution of intergovernment al
machinery for continuous consultation , was
therefore advocated by the British delegation
and agreed by the Conference. As a result,
E. C. A. C. has now institute d a Committee
on Co-ordination and L i b e r a l i s a t i o n which
will meet according to need between ECAC
Sessions. The institution of the Standing Committee on Co-ordination and Liberalisation no
doubt reflects the realisationt hatthe role of the Conference in this situation will b e increasing lyimportant , and every effort should be
m a d e by Governments and parliaments to
ensure that this nentergovernmental machinery is effectively used
8. The creation of the maintenance pool
between S. A. S.-Swissair and the setting up of
Air-Union do not , of course, make it less necess
a ryto follow closely the policies of all Governments in the field of civil aviation , and of promoting th e gradual liberalisation of air services.
While Air-Union involves a sharing of
traffic rights and hence a mounts to a liberalis
a tion of scheduled services between the participating countries — and this should lead to animproved service to the public—Assembly
Representatives will no doubt wish to watch
closely that the increased power of such intern
ational combines is not abused. There is acry in gneed to reducethe cost of air travel,
and , althought heproblem is a complex ne,
it is by reference to that overriding need that
thecreation of such combines should be judged.
9. There are two further problems in
connection withEuropen civil aviation which
have not been dealt with bythe Conference
but which the Economic Committee feels
deserve the closes txamination . The first
of thes eisthe situation of the European aircraft industry . There is every appearance that
this industry is heading for grave difficulties
atthepresent moment . Inthe United Kingdom,
where a few years ago t h e aircraft cons
tructionindustry appeared to be in ahealthy
position , thesituation has deteriorated very
seriously. The difficulties of the aircraft industry are connected with the great cost of building modern passenger aeroplanes, particul
arly jet airliners, of procuring sufficiently
l a r g e orders to permit economic production
runs and the recent decline in the production
of mannedmilitary aircraft.
10. The other problem is that of air
fares. There is noneed to stressthe advantagest othe public at large of reducing the cost of
airtravel . The remarka ble success of the
new economy class tourist fares on trans - Atlantic services is evidence of how fares affect
traffic growth . The Economic Committe et herefo repropos esto examine, as faras it can with in
the limits of obtainable data , the present operation of I. A. T. A., which is the body through
which internationalrates are at present fixed
by the world's major airlines. In this case,
too , the Committee hopes to put forward its
views tot he Assembly whe nits examination of
the problem is completed
11. Finally , aprocedural problem arises
because E. C. A. C. is responsible neither to
the Assembly, to the Committee of Ministers , noreven directly to the European Governments which are members of the Conference,
but to the International Civil Aviation Organisation in Montreal . Moreover, some Governments which are not Members of the Council
of Europe are repres ented on E. C. A. C. In
order to ensure there fore , that our own Governm
e n t s which are Members both of the Council
of Europe and the E. C. A. C. take action on
ECAC recommendations, we should insist
either that our Governments report back to
us throught heonly direct channel of communication whichexists , i. e. thereport the Committee of Ministers sends to us at the beginning of
each part-session, or that they report back
to E. jC. A. C. so that the action they have
taken may beincluded in the Report of the
Conference.
