Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-07-06-Speech-4-356"
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"en.20000706.13.4-356"2
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".
This part-session has produced a rich crop of reports on transport. I must, unfortunately, observe, however, that this sector is examined only from the Liberal point of view.
Mr Atkins’s report on the European Commission proposal on the single European sky goes along with this rationale of liberalisation at any price. This was the cause of the French air traffic controllers’ strike last week. This was how they expressed their concerns about a purely commercial view of their profession. I understand their action, and I can certainly not say as much for Mr Atkins, whose report urges the Commission to encourage Member State governments that currently tolerate a situation where national labour disputes disrupt air traffic to tackle the problem as a matter of urgency”. It is pathetic!
No one can deny that the air traffic situation has deteriorated. Air traffic corridors and airports are at saturation point, delays are common, with one in three aircraft behind schedule, and the whole business is accompanied by a trail of environmental and noise pollution.
I wish therefore to pay tribute to the determination of Mrs de Palacio, the Commissioner responsible for transport, in tackling the problem head-on in order to achieve the creation of a single European sky as soon as possible. I disagree entirely, however, with the means she puts forward and with the report’s proposals.
The report proposes to introduce competition among air traffic control centres, taking away the link between regulatory authorities and operators. The supervisory function would be carried out within separate companies whose capital would be open to air companies or private partners. Such liberalisation would serve to jeopardise air transport safety, and this, of course, is unacceptable and contradictory to the EC Treaty, according to which improvement of transport safety is one of the chief objectives of common transport policy.
France would certainly seem to be the odd man out in Europe, where, in most countries, air traffic control is administered by agencies, under state supervision but open to private capital. France wishes to keep these activities in the public sector. The principle of subsidiarity must be applied here, and each Member State must retain control of the organisation of air traffic control. This is essential, especially as the problem with delays is not caused by air traffic control, which is responsible for less than 25% of all delays!
In conclusion, I support the proposals to strengthen the role of Eurocontrol, the pan-European agency responsible for the management of the airspace of European states, be they members of the European Union or not, in its capacity as regulatory authority. The report is wrong to underestimate this agency’s potential, but I have voted against a report which is completely unacceptable."@en1
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