Brussels, 06/01/2015 (Agence Europe) - EPP MEPs on the transport committee of the European Parliament have called on the Latvian Presidency not to ignore outstanding aviation issues. The Presidency would seem to be somewhat reticent in this area, wary after months of antagonism between Spain and the United Kingdom over Gibraltar.
Single European Sky. The EPP delegation, through its spokesperson Wim van de Camp (Netherlands), wrote to the Latvian transport minister, Anrijs Matiss, and to the European commissioner, Violeta Bulc, at the end of December. The EPP calls explicitly on the Latvian Presidency to “continue to encourage Member States to agree with the proposed regulations on the Single European Sky 2+, with the aim of accelerating the reform of European air traffic control in order to meet the growing traffic demand anticipated in the years to come”. Agreement was reached on this matter in Council at the start of December, much to the regret of Spain and the United Kingdom which are engaged in a face-off over application of European rules to the Gibraltar airport (the issue was nonetheless put in brackets in the agreement, see EUROPE 11210). The United Kingdom is likely to question the agreement, arguing a lack of consistency.
Consequently, the inter-institutional trialogue scheduled to take place in December did not happen and no trialogue meetings are planned under the Latvian Presidency (Parliament first reading position in March, see EUROPE 11037). This is a matter of concern for rapporteur Marian-Jean Marinescu (EPP, Romania). He is due shortly to meet the Polish and Dutch transport ministers, among others, in an attempt to break the deadlock.
Air passenger rights. The EPP is also calling for action from the Latvian Presidency on the review of air passenger rights. The MEPs would like Riga to “finalise the negotiations” so that agreement can be reached in Council and inter-institutional talks can begin (Parliament first reading in February, see EUROPE 11012). The Latvian Presidency, however, does not seem to be so inclined, as it is planning to present only an overview and a progress report at the Transport Councils of 13 March and 11 June. The Gibraltar issue is also hampering this matter, although the agreement on the Single European Sky 2+ could be seen as a precedent.
Rapporteur Georges Bach (EPP, Luxembourg) will not be happy to see the review of air passenger rights held up, our sources have indicated. In the meantime, stakeholders each put their own interpretation on the current legislation and the Court of Justice of the EU is being called on to rule on a number of cases, which could, ultimately, lead to a mismatch between the legislative process and the reality on the ground. (MD)