Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-05-18-Speech-2-578"
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"en.20100518.37.2-578"2
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"Madam President, we are all aware of the horrendous disruption caused, and continuing to be caused, by the volcanic ash cloud. More than 100 000 flights have been cancelled and around 12 million passengers have not been able to travel as planned. Goods and cargo have been delayed or not transported at all and businesses, both large and small, have been affected. Our European airlines and airports have suffered catastrophic financial losses. I believe that European airlines alone have lost more than EUR 2 billion.
In all this chaos, one thing is clear: air transport is enormously important for the European economy, and as individuals, we depend on a thriving and efficient air transport industry where safety for crew and passengers is the first prerogative. As such, I applaud the decision of the Commission to respond decisively following the compulsory grounding of the European air transport sector.
The Commission has recognised the need not only to consider financial compensation, but also the necessity to speed up the implementation of SESAR measures. As a general rule I believe that the state should not artificially support business. Risk, as we all know and accept, is part of running a business. However, these are exceptional circumstances. We have not seen such sustained disruption to the industry with such enormous financial losses since 9/11 and, notwithstanding the financial difficulties currently facing all Member States, I would urge them to back plans to support an industry which simply cannot sustain further losses.
The question now is, what can and should be done in future to deal with such crises? Firstly, airlines must be involved in discussions about possible airspace closures from the outset. Secondly, the SESAR package must be brought forward in a sensible fashion. I still have some reservations about the creation of a network manager. I am not fundamentally opposed to the idea, but I strongly believe some questions remain to be answered. For example, what would be the exact role? To whom would this person be accountable? How would this improve the current situation? I look forward to serious debate on the issue, Commissioner, before any legislation is implemented, as a knee-jerk response could prove more damaging than intended.
I also think it would be wise to look at North America and elsewhere to see how they deal with the issue of volcanic ash. In the UK, we apply the same terms of reference as the ICAO, but the Americans use a different method to calculate the ash drift. They seem to apply a more measured approach and I believe that we could perhaps learn something there.
In addition, we must remember that when decisions are made in the EU regarding closing EU airspace, the impact of such decisions does not stop at our borders, and discussions with the remainder of the ICAP countries must take place.
Finally, as European policy makers, we have a responsibility to develop a viable long-term strategic vision for aviation in the EU, taking into account the international dimension. I believe we should support the establishment of measures to improve risk management, settling justified compensation claims without distortion of competition, as well as promoting well balanced, cost effective structural reforms."@en1
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