Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-04-20-Speech-2-014"
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"en.20100420.3.2-014"2
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".
Mr President, thank you to the Commission and the Council for the information you have given us about the crisis in European aviation. What has become clear over the past few days is that, without aviation, not only does our Parliament run into difficulties, but our European cooperation and our economy faces huge problems, too. That is why it is important that we are having this emergency debate in Parliament today. Passengers have been stranded, airlines, the travel industry and companies which depend on air travel have all been hit hard, and all this comes on top of the economic crisis.
Safety is paramount. Let there be no misunderstanding about that. Passengers have to be transported safely, but it is clear that we were not sufficiently prepared for this exceptional situation. The closing of airspace on the first day was a swift response to a problem with which we, in Europe, have, until now, been unfamiliar, a volcanic ash cloud. But what happened in the days following this? The computer models showed us that we ought not to fly, but the test flights went ahead without any problems. Let me reiterate that, while safety must, of course, come first, it is important that we reopen European airspace on the basis of facts and correct assumptions. It is necessary that we carry out more work, tailored to our specific circumstances. The good thing is that the first steps towards that were taken yesterday and we have to build on that quickly. We have to take decisive action. Safety first, but we also have to make sure that we can again use the safe zones very soon.
In addition, we need structural measures. The single European sky, which has given rise to so much resistance amongst the Member States, is something which could also help us make aviation more effective.
Airlines have suffered huge economic damage. High costs were incurred, not only through the grounding of air traffic itself, but also because assistance had to be provided to stranded passengers. Insurance companies are not providing any cover and it is questionable whether we can justify all the costs falling on the shoulders of the airlines. I therefore urge you to investigate the scale of the costs incurred, the scale of the damage suffered and what compensation might perhaps be provided. To give you an example: the costs incurred by the airlines, based on our European directive on passenger rights, and what disaster assistance is payable. Is it not the obvious step to ascertain whether, in this case of force majeure, we could actually pay that out of the European budget?
Commissioner Almunia, you have indicated that you would be favourably inclined to the provision of State aid, but I must warn you that we must prevent the Member States sponsoring their national champions. It is therefore extremely important that we coordinate this at a European level. Not only the State aid framework, but also the effective provision of State aid. That is what I call on you to ensure."@en1
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