Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-03-10-Speech-4-072-000"
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"en.20110310.5.4-072-000"2
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"Mr President, it has been said in the debate but I will reiterate that we are all aware of the huge extent of the disruption caused by the volcanic ash cloud. As has been mentioned, over 100 000 flights were cancelled, tens of millions of business and holiday passengers were not able to travel as planned, goods and cargo were delayed or not transported at all, businesses were affected and our European carriers and airports suffered catastrophic financial losses. All in all, it cost the European airlines more than EUR 2 billion. Institutions across Europe and in Member States who were responsible for dealing with such issues were absolutely paralysed and, quite frankly, if it had not been so serious, it would have been practically laughable.
In all this chaos, one thing was 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 am delighted to support this oral question, not least because during our previous plenary debate on this issue, I called for the European Union to look at international best practice on dealing with volcanic ash and, more particularly, highlighted America, which has always applied a more measured approach in this regard. I certainly welcomed the fact that the Commission, in its assessment of the crisis, accepted that Europe needed to revise procedures through the International Civil Aviation Organisation.
International best practice tells us that responsibility for dealing with potential hazards related to volcanic ash must be transferred to the airline operators as part of their safety management systems. The role of the authorities is to audit the airline safety management system to ensure that it meets the required safety standards. This is the procedure applied by the US and other countries which have managed to deal with volcanic eruptions without major disruptions to air traffic.
Clear and decisive joined-up leadership is essential and we need the European Aviation Safety Agency to ensure that EU Member States adapt their current procedures to guarantee that airline operators will take responsibility and be supported in making such decisions in future.
Lastly, the crisis in April and May last year made it absolutely clear that as a priority, we need to push for the full implementation of the Single European Sky and SESAR. Both European industry and the taxpayer have already invested huge sums of money in these projects and, as European lawmakers, we must continue to push forward well balanced, cost-effective and structural reforms. I welcome the comments by the Commissioner today. Let us hope that we move forward now in a positive way."@en1
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