Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-05-18-Speech-2-568"
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"en.20100518.37.2-568"2
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"I want to start by thanking you for your answer. In my opinion, a number of questions have not yet been answered fully, and so I should like rather more explanation of several points.
Mr Simpson’s absence demonstrates that the issue is indeed still current, and that the consequences of such eruptions are unpredictable and can be far-reaching in terms of our citizens’ mobility, and also in economic terms if the situation is protracted. As I see it, it also demonstrates that we cannot, in fact, rule out the possibility of something similar occurring in a few weeks’ time, for example – in the middle of the peak summer season – and the airspace having to be closed.
Consequently, we must continue to work not only on structural measures to improve the efficiency of our aviation and of our transport system in general – I shall return to this shortly – but also on better crisis management. A minute ago, you also talked about setting up a kind of coordination cell. More clarity will be provided on that subject this week.
Nevertheless, could you perhaps already tell us a little more about the kind of task you envisage for this coordination cell? What exactly should its initial tasks be? The occurrences in April have made it abundantly clear that coordination between the parties concerned – such as airports, airlines and travel agencies – falls short, and that there is no mechanism for informing the parties concerned of what they have to do in such cases. Also, stranded travellers, for example, do not really know what their rights are.
Thus, as I see it, we need a European preparedness plan to enable the right decisions to be taken rapidly and the right contacts to be developed. In fact, the same goes for the repatriation of travellers; after all, where tens of thousands of people are concerned, a system must be set up somewhere to facilitate this.
Passengers’ rights are a very important element. Europe has done a very great deal of work in this field, which is to be welcomed. As you know, though, there are gaps in the legislation. We are talking about third-country airlines, which do not actually fall under our legislation, and so I would advocate integrating these kinds of rights into our aviation agreements with third countries. I also think that we need to monitor the application of this kind of legislation by the Member States. We heard just this week that the Italian authorities have fined the airline Ryanair. That is good news, but what is happening in the other Member States? Can we obtain an assessment of this?
Of course, there are also the numerous structural measures, but I do not wish to dwell too much on those: the Single European Sky that is under construction, and also the railways, for example. The railways proved not to be a viable alternative. There are many reasons for this: it has to do with different systems and also with circumstances such as our lack of so much as an integrated ticketing system. In my opinion, that is also very important, Commissioner. Therefore, a very great deal remains to be done, but you have our support in this."@en1
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