Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-09-05-Speech-1-133"
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"en.20050905.21.1-133"2
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".
The tragic events of this summer and what has again taken place this morning give us – as you said, Commissioner – a real responsibility to promptly adopt new measures in order to improve the safety of air passengers and the information offered to them. Contrary to what the recent accidents would suggest, air safety has not declined over the years and aeroplanes remain by far the safest form of transport in the world; let us be realistic, a zero level of risk does not exist.
The high increase in air traffic could lead to a rise in the number of aviation accidents and in the number of deaths, with some experts even predicting that by 2020 there will be on average one accident per week. That is unacceptable. Prompt and effective action must be taken, and it is the duty of Parliament and the European Union to protect the safety of Europeans as far as possible. That is why we, like the United States is doing, must put right the existing shortcomings and make provision for a European system which, alongside the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), would do more to increase air safety.
Within the draft report that I presented on Tuesday before the Committee on Transport and Tourism, I requested, in particular, that a black list based on a set of objective safety criteria be drawn up, which would be valid throughout the entire EU territory. The most satisfactory solution for the user is to publish one single Community black list, which is updated by the Member States but which concerns the entire airspace of the EU without singling out the Member State behind each measure. To ensure that this list of banned air carriers is enforced throughout the entire EU territory – you have spoken about this, Commissioner – the criteria on the basis of which the list will be drafted must be drawn up at Community level.
These common criteria based on objective safety considerations would be laid down by the Commission, assisted by a group of experts from the Member States. Every carrier included in the black list will be grounded throughout the entire EU territory, as it is unthinkable that a carrier could be declared deficient and allowed to transport passengers. The same level of safety must be guaranteed to Europeans, no matter which Community airport they depart from. The proposed system would enable us to strengthen coordination among the civil aviation authorities of the Member States, while leaving it to those authorities to take the initiative regarding safety measures.
The other strand of this report lays down the obligation to inform passengers about the identity of the actual air carrier and creates rights for them in certain specific cases. It is desirable, furthermore, to promptly entrust the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) with a key role in checking that the international and Community aviation safety standards are observed, by making it responsible for issuing safety certificates for third country carriers. That is why the European Commission must propose an extension of the Agency’s powers and I am pleased to have heard Mr Barrot announce that this proposal would be presented in the autumn. The EASA should also have the opportunity to monitor the various national civil aviation authorities, to carry out audits and even to manage a European database that would gather together the details of all of the checks carried out by the Member States on aircraft.
To conclude, I am delighted that it has been possible for the vote in plenary on this report, initially scheduled for January, to be brought forward to November which, in the event of the report being, as I hope, approved at first reading, will enable the regulation to be adopted at the Transport Council of 5 December, that is to say before the end of the year."@en1
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