Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-02-12-Speech-1-178"
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"en.20070212.16.1-178"2
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".
Mr President, I should like things to be made quite clear between us. There are two ways of tackling the problem. I reacted firmly and clearly regarding the fears that some of you have voiced in relation to the regularity of the procedures. I gave straight answers, as it was my duty to do to the best of my knowledge and belief. That does not prevent me from understanding the difficulties associated with applying the regulation and from remaining alert to them.
I am well aware that I have not responded to everyone. I was asked a question about whether the interim measures will be temporary or long-term. I am convinced that, in this area, we can be hopeful that new technologies and equipment will enable us, at some point, to suspend these emergency provisions on the basis of the unanimous – I must say unanimous – evidence of the experts from each of the Member States.
Those are the reasons why we have laid down these rules. Have no doubt that, for me, as someone who is very attached to the development of air transport and to the comfort of passengers, it is with some reluctance that I must oversee the application of this regulation. I can tell you that this debate has been useful and that we will remain more mindful than ever of all the problems that many of you have raised, but that is without forgetting that the security rules will only be genuinely effective if they are applied by the entire international community. In this regard, the body that oversees civil aviation worldwide, the ICAO, also needs to be able to take up the issue quickly and allow us to pass as many bilateral agreements as necessary with third countries.
Mr President, while thanking the MEPs who have spoken so frankly, I should like to assure them that the procedures have indeed been complied with. However, I am well aware of the many everyday problems caused by the application of these measures; I remain conscious of them and I will take them into account in the very precise assessment that the impact of these measures requires.
I am completely open, contrary to what you said. I am open in most cases; the recent visits I have made to Zurich and Washington, in particular, testify to this. On these occasions, I submitted to the same rules as all other passengers; I was even subjected to a fairly systematic search in Zurich.
Like you, I understand the problems and I do not want to give you the impression that I regard this debate as totally useless. It is important for me to clearly understand the difficulties, and I am grateful to many of you for helping me to understand them. A word of warning, however: just because the controls have flaws, it does not mean that all controls should be condemned. The same applies to speeding on the roads. Just because the controls carried out have shortcomings, it does not mean that those controls are useless.
I am going to try to respond to some of the points raised, then I will draw some conclusions. I should like first to remind you that we have drafted some fairly detailed guidelines with the aim of ensuring that the rules are applied as uniformly as possible in all of the Member States. That is one thing.
You raised the problem of transfer passengers. I am going to respond to you in more depth. It is true that we now have to go through the International Civil Aviation Organisation to conclude bilateral agreements. You are right, that is how we should proceed. I believe that we need to resolve this matter of transfers, which is currently unsatisfactory. We fully agree on that. We will have the opportunity, during the International Civil Aviation Organisation General Assembly, to raise the problem and to see what can be done in relation to third-countries. You are perfectly right, and I wanted to stress that.
I should also like to say to you that I am very aware of the problem of duty-free sales. I myself have received the Irish representatives, who have very solid experience of the duty free system, and you are right in thinking that I myself, as a Frenchman who hails from regions in which prestige products are promoted, am also worried. I do not think that the solution is perfect, but, in view of the regulations that we have adopted, I think that we have tried to find solutions for duty free. However, I too am still very conscious of this problem, and you can obviously write to me personally in this connection.
Mr El Khadraoui was right in saying that an assessment really needs to be carried out. I should like to confirm to you, ladies and gentlemen, the commitment made by the Commission to re-examine the regulation on a regular basis. Given the developments in technology, the first re-examination – which is currently in preparation – will obviously have an impact on the situation in airports and will affect passengers. You are therefore right, regular assessments need to be carried out. An assessment is under way and, without prejudice to the confidential nature of certain provisions, I will be quite willing to give an account of it.
On the subject of research, you state that technology would enable us to avoid restrictive measures for passengers, as a result, for example, of the installation of detectors that are capable of assessing risks. That is obvious. A research effort is therefore required in this instance. During my stay in Washington, I also saw how we could cooperate with the US research services to design equipment that would enable us to avoid these restrictions. This is clearly a major element.
I did not respond to a point raised in the first part of the debate. It relates to issues concerning the Stakeholder Advisory Group on Aviation Security, known as SAGAS. The Commission created SAGAS so that it could record the opinions of the various industry sectors. It is true that the Group is vital. When Parliament proposed at first reading to amend the new framework regulation aimed at formalising SAGAS, Mr Berman, the Commission gave its support. And I confirm that support. Parliament is absolutely right to want to formalise, as it were, the structure of SAGAS. However, it is true that the opinions of SAGAS only sustain the work of the regulatory committee. Every initiative taken into consideration by the committee is examined by all of the Commission services, and attention is paid to aspects such as civil rights, consumer rights and legal aspects, before the Commission makes a decision."@en1
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