Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-04-20-Speech-2-015"
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"en.20100420.3.2-015"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I believe that this crisis has a human dimension which we will definitely have to discuss today. A lot of people, tens of thousands of them, are stranded all over the world and waiting to come home. I believe that we should be thinking about these people this morning. Almost all of us, many of the Members of this House, have had similar experiences in recent weeks. We are privileged Members of the European Parliament, who can make use of the available infrastructure. However, many people are stranded in far-flung corners of the world. They are unable to leave and get back to their jobs, their children cannot go to school, because they have not been able to come back from their holidays, and they are stuck without accommodation and without any money. I would like to say once again that my sympathy this morning is with these people. I hope that it will be possible to get them home quickly.
Airlines are a vital part of our transport system, not only for passengers, but also for goods. The financial losses caused by this volcanic eruption are significantly greater than those resulting from the events of 11 September 2001. This is why I am calling on the Commission to take a flexible approach to authorising domestic aid for airlines that are at risk, if aid of this kind really has to be provided.
Finally, we need to be aware that air travel is one part of the very vulnerable infrastructure which we have in Europe. If air travel is no longer possible, we are not in a position to compensate adequately for its absence. This is why I believe that the project which we started 20 years ago, the expansion of the trans-European networks and, in particular, the expansion of rail transport, is a credible and significant alternative and, as we are now seeing, an alternative which is vital to our economic survival. It is important that we now acknowledge this fact once again.
My colleague, Mr El Khadraoui, will be covering other aspects of this issue, but I would just like to say one thing. We have not yet succeeded in bringing about the interoperability of trains between different countries. It is not possible for a German intercity express to bring German people back from Spain and, in the same way, a French high-speed train cannot travel as far as Budapest. This means that we are still not in the position that we should have reached. Although we have made appropriate resolutions in Parliament, I am of the opinion that we do not need these sudden periodic bursts of action. Instead, we must adopt a sustained, ongoing approach to putting these new concepts into effect."@en1
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