Brussels,02/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - A number of texts of importance to the European Union, on safety, security and competition, may already have reached their final form after ten days of talks at the General Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) that is due to continue until 4 October.
Helen Kearns, spokesperson for European Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas, who is taking part in the negotiations, gave further information on Wednesday 2 October on progress.
The text on safety was “stabilised” at the start of the week and European priorities have been taken up. The EU is the world's safest region in terms of aviation, and the commissioner's demands were high, promoting a risk-based regional approach.
On security, the finishing touches were being put to a text on air freight rules. The EU argued that any duplication in the security chain must be avoided and, as it stands, the text is expected to be a step forward, the spokesperson said.
On air traffic management, the final text was drafted on Tuesday 1st October. Here, too, the EU was careful to ensure that there was no duplication or overlapping in the global system and, thus, that global standards were established. It should be possible for a world navigation plan to be put in place according to the text currently on the table, and this could take account of current European standards.
Finally, with regard to competition, a very important issue for the industry, the EU is making sure that its carriers have access to growth markets, such as the Gulf and Asia. Guidelines on fair competition are still under debate at the ICAO and should result in a multilateral agreement liberalising air sectors across the globe.
All the texts currently under negotiation at the ICAO will have to be adopted at the end of the General Assembly meeting. (MD/transl.fl)