Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-10-07-Speech-3-266"
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"en.20091007.23.3-266"2
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Madam President, Mrs De Veyrac, Mr Vlasák and Mrs Gurmai focused attention on the cause of bankruptcy, in other words, the economic crisis and the difficulties currently faced by the air transport sector, by both low-cost airlines and major airlines.
The European Parliament and the Commission have acted in unison to launch a set of initiatives in response to the crisis. I refer to the freezing of slots, supported by the vast majority of this Parliament, and the Single European Sky initiative, which is a large-scale reform of the air transport system that enables airlines to save on fuel costs because we have reduced the legs between one airport and another.
Precisely in order to provide practical support to all European airlines, be they low-cost or non low-cost airlines, I have called on the 27 transport ministers in the European Union to introduce the Single European Sky reform ahead of schedule, because this is a good way to allow airlines to save fuel and therefore to prevent their balance sheets from being adversely affected. Preventing airlines from going bankrupt would not only protect passengers against loss but would, above all, be extraordinarily important when it comes to protecting jobs. We must not forget that this financial and economic crisis should not be allowed to become a full-blown social crisis.
We know that the air transport sector is beset by problems at international level: we need only think of what happened to Japan Airlines a few weeks ago, when staff cuts were announced. It should be our duty not only to safeguard citizens but also act to ensure that good airlines can remain operational, thus safeguarding jobs.
The European Commission – and please excuse me if I digress – and Parliament have worked to make this possible. I can state that, through our efforts, we have made it possible to create a new completely private airline model: examples include the case of Olympic Airways, the case of Alitalia and the case – which I hope will be resolved – of Austrian Airlines This means that there are no more state-controlled airlines that have to be bailed out by the public when they get into trouble. Instead, whoever makes the mistakes must pay for them.
I would also like to respond to the question raised by Mrs Alvarez, who raised a topic that is certainly interesting: I think I can agree with her proposal adding, in the work we are carrying out, the suggestion that safeguards should also be given to the passengers of airlines that shut down not due to bankruptcy but because they do not comply with safety requirements. In this particular case, the passenger suffers the same loss as a passenger who bought a ticket from an airline that subsequently went bankrupt. The principle must remain that of safeguarding the travelling public when they suffer a loss, in other words, when they cannot board their flight. Moreover, this is the philosophy that underpins – and will continue to underpin – my efforts as long as I remain a Commissioner, so that passengers can be offered the same safeguards in all transport sectors.
For this reason, at the Transport Council due to be held in Luxembourg tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, we will tackle the question of the rights of sea and river transport passengers. This is a choice made by the Commission, with the support of Parliament, which is aimed at safeguarding European citizens. If we really wish to win public confidence and obtain the sort of positive results that were achieved in Ireland, we must legislate to show citizens that the Community institutions are on their side, that they are not simply gravy trains, but places where work is done to safeguard and protect the rights of European citizens."@en1
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