Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-05-18-Speech-2-574"
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"en.20100518.37.2-574"2
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"Madam President, I would like to thank Mr Kallas for being here and for the work that he has done during this difficult time.
The crisis will not help us to take measures. The Member States will be reluctant to provide resources. If we are mean, however, this volcano could do more damage to the European economy than is being forecast.
I ask the Commission to be determined, and I ask the Council to urgently tackle the need to take decisions. I ask everyone to be generous in implementing alternatives to make up for the incapacities of the institutions. I do not hold the Commission or the Council responsible, but we need to acknowledge the diagnosis that the institutions have not been capable, as they currently stand, of solving a crisis of this magnitude and proportions.
This is a debate that had to take place, ladies and gentlemen, and unfortunately, I think it will not be the last of its kind. I will spare you any repeats of the statistics of this serious event and the negative impact that it has had on the economy. I simply wish to remember those who were affected.
Firstly, there were the passengers. Ten million people were left without flights and with no guidance as to what to do. The impact on passengers was so great that the provisions of directives and regulations could not protect them. The exclusion of liability in contracts due to catastrophe or
brings to mind the need for a joint fund to tackle the consequences of a global disaster such as that caused by the volcano.
I now come to the airlines. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimates that they lost EUR 1 700 million worldwide. The Association of European Airlines (AEA) assesses the loss at EUR 850 million at European level. This blow was all that they needed to accentuate a spiralling crisis that is threatening many airlines with closure.
The other victim has been tourism. The consequences for tourism have been devastating. Firstly, due to the cancellation of contracts that had been made in advance, as is usual in this sector, and secondly, due to insecurity, which has caused a change in normal booking trends.
This is my diagnosis, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen. There can only be one conclusion: the European institutions do not have the tools to effectively tackle a crisis of this magnitude.
Now I come to the criticism, because criticism is necessary and inevitable; self-criticism, if necessary. No one can be exonerated, because everyone involved acted badly, late and inefficiently, sometimes through no fault of their own. The Member States cannot be exonerated because, although the decisions were within their competence, they were still unable to act. The European institutions cannot be exonerated because they took four long days to react, and because their reaction, which invoked safety as their priority, did not unfortunately produce calm, but paralysis.
I will now discuss the Commission’s response. Today, the Commission is reiterating the measures that it had announced to us. In my view, they are reasonable measures, but there is a lack of clarity about the timescale for implementing them.
We are not talking about something in the past. Even today, there is a latent threat of flights being grounded, and it is concerning that we are dependent on air currents. I know that we cannot fight the elements. This was said by a famous Spanish sailor regarding a big naval battle that we lost."@en1
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