Brussels, 10/04/2014 (Agence Europe) - Members of the EP's transport committee (TRAN) have formally reaffirmed their support for reducing air traffic because of the noise that aircraft cause. Committee members believe that the local authorities should make the decisions on this issue. The Greens, however, are very critical about the instruments that currently exist for protecting people living near airports from this kind of noise.
Commission left on the sidelines. The TRAN committee formally adopted the compromise reached on Thursday 10 April with the Council, whose position was close to that of the European Parliament. During this stage of procedures, new amendments were not retained in order to ensure preliminary agreement. In this dossier, it was essential not to allow the European Commission the right to examine decisions taken at local level for reducing flights, in an effort to protect people living near airports from the noise. Jörg Leichtfried (S&D, Austria), the rapporteur stated that “the Commission does not have the right to block or change anything, this is the solution we wanted”. At the very most, the Commission will have to be informed of decisions made before they are applied and will be able to comment within three months. Local authorities will then be free to take these comments into account or reject them.
Greens displeased. The report was adopted by 20 votes to 4 - the Greens' - and there were no abstentions. The Greens fear an adverse effect this could have on protecting people living near airports, explained Austrian Green, Eva Lichtenberger: “Instead of seeking to ensure stronger EU rules, with a view to helping to reduce the nuisance, pollution, health problems and safety risks posed by airports, this legislative review is aimed at boosting capacities at European airports”. Her group is afraid that the economic interests of airports and airlines will prevail over those of people suffering from noise pollution. The MEP argued that, by reducing the Commission's room for manoeuvre, Parliament was promoting “exactly the opposite of what the Commission should be doing: namely, to ensure European citizens' rights are upheld”.
Parliament will vote for a last time on the subject during the plenary session next week. The regulation will then be approved by the Council, published in the Official Journal and applied within the next two years. This is the first of three regulations that previously formed the airport package the legislative procedure for which is now nearing its end. (MD)