Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-03-07-Speech-1-125"
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"en.20050307.14.1-125"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, during conciliation on the ‘Single European Sky’ package, Parliament stressed the need to balance the various parts of the package so as to tackle the institutional, economic and technical aspects while developing a genuine social side. The Commission agreed to provide a proposal for a Community air traffic controller licence quickly. You are debating that Community licence today.
This Commission proposal for a directive has three objectives. First, like Parliament, the Commission believes it is very important that the various elements of the ‘single sky’ package should be developed in a balanced manner. This proposal is a key part of the social pillar. That is why the social partners were closely involved in preparing the directive.
The second objective, the reason why we proposed introducing a Community controller licence, has to do with safety. This common licence will make it possible to improve the safety of air traffic management by raising the standards of controller training. Moreover, the proposal also allows us to identify and, if appropriate, adopt the Eurocontrol safety regulatory requirements concerning the training of controllers in order to transpose them into Community law.
The third objective is that the ‘single sky’ legislation will establish cross-border functional airspace blocks in order to reduce the fragmentation of air space. The licence will make it easier to organise these services either side of the borders and will contribute to labour mobility in the field of air traffic control.
Let us turn now to the means used to meet these three objectives. To put an end to the present diversity of national rules, the proposal for a directive introduces high Community standards for the full range of skills that are essential for safety. This means in particular the conditions for entry to the profession, the structure of qualifications, the endorsements, the content of initial controller training and linguistic ability, both in English and in the mother tongue. This problem of language rules was certainly one of the most sensitive points during the talks in the Council. The Commission has based itself on already accepted international standards. The proposal’s added value is therefore not so much the drawing up of those standards as their introduction into a Community framework that will enable them to be applied in a truly harmonised manner. I am in particular expecting a lot from the certification of training providers, which offers a sound guarantee for the issue of a high level licence.
As I am sure you know, the Council’s work has made good progress and a general approach was adopted at the ‘Transport’ Council on 9 December last. That approach respects the logic of our proposal and I will say that it clarifies our proposal in a number of places or else strengthens it, especially where the practicalities of management are concerned, with a view to the better management of mutual recognition, for example, or to applying the directive to current licence holders. Incidentally, Mr Schmitt, I note that most of your amendments relate to the same subjects as those raised by the Council.
Ladies and gentlemen, the adoption of this report is a step towards convergence between the positions of Parliament and the Council. I have the impression that the Council is ready to examine with you the reconciliations necessary in order to facilitate the early adoption of this text, and I confirm to you that the report is very much on the same wavelength concerning the most delicate point, namely the language rules. The proposals in Mr Schmitt’s report are a balanced reconciliation between legitimate safety concerns and the mobility and free movement of controllers. That is why, Mr President, the Commission is awaiting Parliament’s position on this matter with confidence.
I would like to thank Mr Schmitt again and to say how much this air traffic controller licence will enable us to move forwards into a single sky that is safer for all Europeans. That is why I am confident that Parliament will help us to take this constructive measure."@en1
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