Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-11-28-Speech-3-136"
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Thank you, Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, allow me firstly to express my gratitude to this House, to this Parliament, for including the theme of security in civil aviation on the agenda for this part-session. I would also like to thank you for your promptness and speed in dealing with this subject, given the urgent nature of the current situation.
However, with the aim of finding a solution to the significant problem of financing additional measures, I repeat that I am ready to undertake an analysis of the need to harmonise the organisation and financing of security controls in Member States, given what is happening in the United States, and to make the proposals necessary to take the result of this analysis into account. With this action, the Commission would be taking account of the opinion demonstrated by this Parliament through the various amendments that will surely be approved tomorrow.
With regard to Amendment No 7, which proposes the removal of a Community control mechanism aimed at checking the proportionality and justification of stricter security measures in civil aviation adopted by Member States, the Commission must reject this amendment, even though Parliament and Council are of the same opinion. We think that it is legitimate to grant the Commission the power to prevent artificial restrictions that are justified for economic reasons.
Amendment No 9 suggests that the results of the Community inspection reports should be sent to each airline. These reports, ladies and gentlemen, contain general information on the implementation of the regulation by European Union Member States, and on the functioning of their own quality control systems and their ability to detect faults. However, they do not include details such as the indication of the level of risk and its changes from airline to airline, and therefore, passing on these reports will not contribute to improving individual security, and with this in mind, the Commission cannot accept the content of this amendment.
Other amendments have been rejected because they cause legal problems, as is the case with the last paragraph of Amendment No 14, for example, Amendment No 5, which changes the reference standards produced by an external organisation, the ECAC, Amendment No 12, which goes against comitology procedures, Amendment No 17, which would delay the entry into force of the regulation, making it subject to an impact study, without there being any indication of the final decision.
The remaining amendments improve or clarify the text and the Commission can accept them with slight changes to their wording. The Commission could also accept Amendment No 20, but would point out that implementing its extraterritorial effects on the basis of bilateral or multilateral controls would be a complicated matter.
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the Commission has spared no effort to try to achieve, or to facilitate, an agreement between the Council and Parliament at first reading, on a subject that is so important and, above all, urgent. I fear that this may not be possible given the absence of prior agreement on tomorrow’s vote. I think, however, that in the near future, in March, we could be in a position where we have a text, slightly late, it must be said, but if this results in a better quality text and better proposals, this is not such a serious issue, since some of the methods we have discussed here are already being directly implemented by Member States.
Thank you, Mr President. I would like to congratulate Mrs Foster once again. And I would also like to thank Parliament for the urgency and effort it has afforded this measure, which is of fundamental importance, and I hope that in March we will finally reach full agreement between all the institutions.
I would like to congratulate the Committee on Regional Policy, Transport and Tourism on having concluded its first reading of the Commission proposal in such a short time, because although this has been achieved very quickly, it must be added that this has not been done to the detriment of the quality of work carried out, and with regard to this I would particularly like to thank Mrs Foster, the rapporteur for this initiative, for the excellent work she has carried out despite the urgency of the situation, the lack of time and also for having carefully listened to all the sectors involved, which is the best way of undertaking such work.
Taking the gravity of the situation into account and the need to give an immediate response, and considering the mandate of the European Council of 21 September, our objective was to conclude an agreement before the end of the year. In her report, Mrs Foster fully recognises the need to strengthen, in a standardised way, the security requirements applicable to civil aviation since 11 September. I am pleased to be able to tell you that the Commission is, generally speaking, in agreement with the report, given that it supports our intention of introducing common security standards for civil aviation in the European Union, of establishing a Community inspection system aimed at checking the effectiveness and uniformity of these standards, and, therefore, and on this point I insist, at improving the security measures that, as Mr Wiersma or Mr Markov pointed out, are absolutely necessary and urgent.
With regard to the proposed amendments, we can, in principle, accept the first part of Amendment 14, which refers to the gradual introduction of specific security measures, although the measures involved and the timetable will have to be slightly adjusted.
A series of amendments is dedicated to ensuring that part of the implementation costs of the security measures are covered by the Member States of the European Union, on a permanent or temporary basis. With regard to these amendments, the Commission fully agrees with the spirit of Nos 1, 6, 10, 11, 15, 19, 21 and 22, and can accept them in principle, even though they raise important issues relating to the method of financing the security measures. We will have to take a look at the exact wording they will need in order for the Commission to adopt them.
Today, the situation can vary between one county and another, even between one airport and another; however, the Commission does not think that this factor could improve the effectiveness of the security measures.
The Commission communication of 10 October, on the economic impact of the terrorist attacks, suggested that the financing, with public funds, of additional security measures could be considered a positive move. However, I am sorry to have to tell you, ladies and gentlemen, that this measure was not received with any great enthusiasm by the Council, to put it mildly. To tell the truth, it was not supported by the majority of States in the European Union.
This is how I know that making such a reference in the current regulation will cause serious problems in the Council, although, I repeat, we agree with Parliament’s position, because we are aware of the tremendous crisis the European Aviation Sector is experiencing at the moment. This is a sector that is also having to face competition, often unfair competition, from American companies that are benefiting from significant direct aid, provided by the Administration of that country.
It is also possible that the financing of provisions that are not directly related to the improvement of security will not be included in this regulation."@en1
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