Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-04-20-Speech-2-017"
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"en.20100420.3.2-017"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, there has been a fundamental change in mobility in Europe over the last six days. The crucial factor in this case was not a serious accident, measures to combat climate change or the high price of aviation fuel. On this occasion, nature itself played the decisive role.
The Icelandic volcano has once again shown the human race the true power of nature. We must take a lesson from this for the future. The human race is not omnipotent and never will be. It is right that the response to this volcanic eruption has come from Europe. As the volcanic ash can cause aircraft engines to cut out and can also obscure visibility through aircraft windows, the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, Eurocontrol, took a responsible approach and made passenger safety its top priority.
On behalf of the Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Eurocontrol, to the Transport Ministers who supported Eurocontrol and, in particular, to the German Transport Minister, Peter Ramsauer. We should also support the German pilots’ union, Cockpit, which has behaved more responsibly than the management of the airlines by refusing to fly under visual flight rules in European airspace, because it believes that this would be irresponsible. Either the airspace is safe or it is not. Ultimately, it does not matter under which rules planes are flying or under which rules they are crashing.
Therefore, the Greens would like to denounce in the strongest possible terms the approach of the airlines which wanted to give priority to profit rather than safety. We are calling for the European airspace to only be opened again when there is no risk at all. We are calling on all politicians not to give in to the pressure exerted by the airlines and not to hand over responsibility for safety to the pilots, for example.
We have become painfully aware in the last few days of the deficiencies of national and European transport policies over recent decades, which have neglected and, in many cases, are still neglecting, the rail system. These policies have focused entirely on air transport. Every year, the airlines in Europe are given EUR 14 billion by European taxpayers, because, in contrast to the fuel used by the railways, kerosene is not subject to taxation. This puts the airlines’ temporary loss of income into perspective.
However, there is one conclusion which we must draw from all of this. The railway is not only the safest means of transport; it is also essential for safeguarding mobility and stopping climate change. Therefore, I would like to thank all the rail companies in Europe which have helped to get passengers to their destinations.
The volcanic eruption in Iceland should be a warning to all of us. What we are now experiencing is the reality of the future of transport. However, transport will only have a successful future if the necessary measures do not have to be taken overnight. For this reason, we are calling on all the Member States of the European Union to change the priorities of national and international transport policy. Rail transport must be given priority, not only in words, but also in financial deeds, so that we do not have to experience a situation like this again."@en1
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