Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-10-22-Speech-3-480"
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"en.20081022.25.3-480"2
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"Madam President, I welcome the report of my colleague, Ulrich Stockmann, and I thank him for his hard work on this difficult dossier.
All through the process of this report, the concern of my group has been to ensure that the system of airport charges throughout the EU is both fair and transparent, and that a detailed appeals procedure was in place in case of dispute. Often people think of aviation as a single industry but, when one examines issues like airport charging, it soon becomes apparent that the airport and airline sectors have different views and aspirations.
The report before us offers a balanced solution, favouring neither the airlines nor the airports. Whilst, personally, I would have preferred the scope to be based on a percentage of national passengers rather than an arbitrary figure, the rapporteur in his report has ensured that the figure is at a reasonable level of five million passengers – not the Commission’s ridiculously low figure of one million – and the major airport of a Member State has to be included.
A key element in the whole of our discussions has been whether certain airports enjoy a dominant trade position. My group believes that, where this is the case, airport charges need to be regulated. However, many airports are in a competitive situation and airlines are free to choose where they fly into. In my region, Manchester Airport has 22 million passengers a year but faces competition from eight airports all within a 150-km radius. Clearly, in these circumstances, the market itself is a good regulator.
I therefore welcome that the UK will be allowed to maintain its present system of monitoring airport charges, because it has in place a regulatory framework that encourages competition and regulates charges through its own supervisory body only at those airports that have a dominant position. It may be that other countries could follow this regulatory framework as a way of delivering a fair and transparent airport charges system.
I hope now that we can agree this directive at its second-reading stage. This should help us deliver a directive that will put an end to secret meetings setting charges for airports in a monopolistic or dominant trading position. I seriously hope that airlines also recognise that we will now have a transparent system with a detailed appeals procedure, with full consultation, to end the constant complaining about airport charges and work with the airports to deliver a cost-effective, value-for-money service for users and passengers alike."@en1
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