Among the many proposals outlined in his report on an aviation strategy for Europe, which was presented to the European Parliament’s transport and tourism committee (TRAN) on Monday 26 September, Czech MEP Pavel Telička (ALDE) urges the European Commission to pull the stops out to allow the burgeoning of a Trans-European Motorway of the Sky.
He urges the Commission to seek to overcome the problems connected with implementation of the Single European Sky, which has been blocked for years because of a dispute between the United Kingdom and Spain over Gibraltar (see EUROPE 11448). The rapporteur suggests overcoming problems with functional airspace blocks and ensuring the continuity of air services in the most exposed regions. Action of this type has been demanded by airlines for years, which regularly criticise air traffic control strikes (see EUROPE 11517). Finally, he stresses that new air traffic management systems are required, something else that airlines strongly desire (see EUROPE 11368).
Many other points are listed in the report: - continuing to develop a European aviation model without the use of protectionism; - developing a connectivity index to give genuine value-added to particular connections based on number, frequency, quality, and connection duration, along with financial and environmental costs; - encouraging multimodality in transport; - creating an environment that is friendly to smart investment by introducing long-tern strategies and targeted incentives (such as reducing CO² emissions and noise); - meeting environmental objectives connected with the European strategy for low-emissions mobility; - and improving security by sharing intelligence among member states while avoiding excessive burdens for airline passengers, a request that is also made by airlines (see EUROPE 11569).
Telička is planning to amend his rapport in the light of conclusions from the General Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) that is currently taking place in Montreal, Canada (see separate article). MEPs have until 5 October to table amendments. A vote in plenary is planned for the December sitting. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)