Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-10-11-Speech-4-025"
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"en.20071011.4.4-025"2
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"Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the strain on Europe’s airports is currently so great that even the smallest delay at one airport can mean considerable delays at others. In addition, the continuing increase in air traffic will increase the problems at airports, and this will have adverse effects on effectiveness, competitiveness and the environment. The capacity problems at Europe’s airports are not only a national problem but also a European one, and consequently I welcome the Commission’s action plan and 14-point plan as an initial step towards improving capacity at Europe’s airports.
The Commission’s proposals are insufficient, however, and so my report proposes that the Commission draw up, by 2009, a master plan for enhanced airport capacity in Europe. Of course, it is ultimately the responsibility of Member States to build and expand airports. The master plan is to be an instrument, or method, to ensure that Member States coordinate their initiatives to promote and expand airport capacity.
The problem needs to be examined from a cross-border angle. Airports have different characteristics, different strengths, but interaction is important. This goes not only for interaction between airports, but also for interaction with other modes of transport and infrastructures surrounding airports (‘co-modality’).
I should like to thank both the Commission and the spokespeople of the other political groups – Mr El Khadraoui, Mr Jarzembowski, Mr López-Istúriz White and Mrs Lichtenberger – for their extremely constructive cooperation on this report, and I am pleased that Parliament is able to present a clear message showing widespread support in the matters of both capacity and liberalisation of the ‘ground handling’ Directive.
Of course, airports are both loved and loathed. They create growth and prosperity, and provide a link between regions, but they also generate noise and pollution and take up space. It is important, then, that problems be handled in a way appropriate to all parties concerned. Firstly, we propose promoting environmentally friendly capacity expansion. Airport congestion itself can have a negative impact on the environment if aeroplanes are left in a holding pattern, resulting in unnecessary CO2 emissions. Consequently, I also welcome the Commission initiative to incorporate aviation into the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme. I should like to emphasise, however, that it is important for us to have things implemented at global level, too. Secondly, it is important for the Commission to follow up on countries’ implementation of the common rules for the allocation of slots. In this context, the report also requests that the Commission lay down a timeframe and deadlines in order to enhance cooperation between neighbouring Member States as regards the building of functional airspace blocks (FABs). There must be substantial improvements in this area by 2008 – this is a high priority for Parliament. Thirdly, it is a pipe dream to imagine there can be any expansion of an airport’s capacity without thorough involvement of and cooperation with regional and local administrations. It is important, therefore, to establish a dialogue among those European regions with an airport on coordination of capacity expansion. The regions can exchange experiences and learn from one another (What environmental impact does the airport have on the neighbouring population? What are the spatial development plans? What significance does an airport have in general for growth and employment in the area?) and perhaps develop good practice from this.
I hope the Council will support the basic ideas in this report, namely that the Commission’s action plan is insufficient, that guidelines must be developed for optimising and developing airport capacity, that additional capacity is nevertheless required, and that words must be accompanied by action.
The second part of my report concerns ground handling – that is, all the handling surrounding the aeroplane and in the airport, from fuelling and baggage handling to the check-in procedure. Here, the Commission is preparing for a revision of the existing Directive on access to the groundhandling market at Community airports, which, as we know, is a thorny issue. I should like to reiterate my thanks to the spokespeople for the constructive cooperation we enjoyed. We agree that the Commission should carry out an updated analysis of the implementation and impact of the current ‘ground handling’ Directive before we put any new liberalisation on the agenda. We must have a full overview of the impact on users, passengers and staff, and a future directive must ensure quality in ground handling and decent working conditions for staff. We must ensure that there are no monopolistic conditions and that there are clear rules for calls for tender in order to involve users. I hope that this report will inspire the Commission to proceed with both the ‘ground handling’ Directive and the 14-point plan."@en1
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