Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-01-28-Speech-3-077"
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"en.20040128.7.3-077"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, as you can imagine, today is an important day for me. It is a pleasure to be able to attend this debate which is going to represent the positive conclusion and therefore the approval of what has been one of this Commission’s priorities and, of course, one of my priorities, as Commissioner responsible for transport: the implementation of the Single European Sky.
I believe that the text we have finally agreed on is a balanced text, a balanced text which will certainly evolve in the future, but we must be aware that we are carrying out a genuine revolution and an extremely important step forward in the construction of Europe in a real sense.
The notion that there is sovereignty over airspace, an area in which we are going to regulate and act according to common rules within an integrated system is a tremendous step forward which we cannot underestimate, and therefore, the fact that the Member States maintain – as reflected in the text which we have finally agreed on – the guarantees necessary to accept this change, seems to me to be the appropriate compensation if we want to continue taking steps forward in the knowledge that Europe cannot be built in one day, but that it is a process within which we must continue to make progress on the basis of consensus with the support of all the States, because it is not a question of leaving anybody behind.
Ladies and gentlemen, I know there are still things to do – and I would insist: over the coming years there will be new proposals – but I believe that today we are opening up new possibilities which mean taking maximum advantage of the prospects offered by our very membership of this group known as the European Union, in other words, taking advantage of European added value. And that is what we are doing today in order to create an airspace which can be managed more efficiently but, above all, more safely, in a manner which respects the environment, at the service of the citizens, and which represents, I would insist, a step forward which, in certain respects, is almost revolutionary.
I would like to thank the Council for its position which has allowed us to develop in this way throughout these discussions over all these years – the first meeting took place in January 2000, it was one of the first things I did – four years during which we have all been able to develop and come together in relation to rules which allow us to introduce this initiative which, I would remind the honourable Members, will also affect Swiss airspace and Norwegian airspace. Furthermore, Switzerland and Norway have participated fully in the discussions we have held over all this time and, once again, I would like to thank the rapporteurs, the shadow rapporteurs, all the Members of the Committee on Regional Policy, Transport and Tourism, Parliament and the Council for their contributions which have undoubtedly improved the final result.
The work we have been doing has been hard and complicated, and we have therefore been working for some years. In relation to this initiative, for the first time, dressed in uniform, military aviation chiefs from all the Member States of the Union, together with civilian chiefs, met on the premises of the European institutions – and specifically the Commission’s premises – in order to discuss certain aspects which have been pointed out by the rapporteurs, such as the flexible civilian and military use of European airspace.
It is an initiative for which the support of Parliament, and in particular that of Mr Fava and Mrs Sanders-ten Holte, has been the key to being able to promote it and bring it to light.
I would also like to thank the shadow rapporteurs of the different political groups and the whole of the Committee on Regional Policy, Transport and Tourism for their support during the many discussions we have held.
I would like to point out that an initiative which, at the time we launched it, met with great scepticism from the Member States of the Union, which was fiercely opposed by certain sectors, is in the end going to enjoy generalised support.
We must remember that all the Member States support this initiative and they demonstrated this with the adoption of the latest decisions within the Council, and I hope that in today’s vote this will also be the case. I would also point out that the various sectors of the industry in question (air navigation service providers, airlines, manufacturers of equipment, airports ...) are aware of the opportunity offered by this initiative, an opportunity to promote a market with greater dimensions, greater capacities and, above all, which is going to allow us to be leaders and work on the definition of new concepts of air navigation and air traffic control with a view to the STAR 21 initiative for 2020 and also participate, cooperate and combine proposals with those of the United States in order to promote a safer system.
Mr Fava insisted on the safety aspect, which is a key element of this initiative, safer systems for the future but with a more appropriate technology which allows better, safer and more efficient use of the airspace and I would insist that all of this is going to lead to greater safety.
I would like to say something which is also extremely important, and that is that the unions, in particular those which represent the key actors in this field, such as air traffic controllers, have in the end been appreciating the advantages of an initiative of this type and in this regard I am pleased with the joint statement which unions and employers have issued on the final text agreed, a final text within which Eurocontrol one of the key elements which was involved in the discussion also finds its role and responsibility as a body with experience and knowledge which is absolutely essential to the development of the Single European Sky.
I am aware that some people have doubted the willingness of the States in relation to specific aspects and, just today, the rapporteur, Mrs Sanders-ten Holte, has indicated that we are going to closely monitor how the States of the Union develop in terms of the implementation of this Single European Sky."@en1
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