MEPs on the European Parliament’s Transport Committee held talks with the European Commission on Wednesday 31 August on the extension of temporary aid measures for airport slots from 9 October.
As a reminder, the Commission’s proposal - presented to MEPs in July (see EUROPE 12991/12) and on which the European Parliament is expected to vote under an urgency procedure during the October plenary session - foresees raising the minimum threshold for airport slot use to 80% from the current 64%.
However, “we would like to maintain the derogations from the non-use tool in justified cases as well as the specific measures to mitigate the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine”, the Commission commented.
In addition, the Commission’s proposal also advocates extending the list of derogations to natural disasters and major political disturbances. The institution also recommends an obligation for slot coordinators to cooperate better in slot management.
Finally, the Commission would like to be given the ability to take delegated acts to be able to go below 80% until the end of the 2023-2024 winter season, in cases where traffic decreases to below 80% of the 2019 level for a period of four consecutive weeks.
MEPs on the Transport Committee welcomed the Commission’s proposal. However, a number of them recalled the desire of some of the Parliament’s political groups to return to a normal situation as soon as possible and to limit the legal uncertainties for the sector before the next winter season.
“The situation is becoming more normal, but the Commission’s proposal comes a little late. Airlines do not have enough time and we in Parliament do not have enough time for amendments”, lamented Tomasz Frankowski (EPP, Polish).
In addition, some MEPs also welcomed the Commission’s announcement to finalise its proposal on the slot allocation regulation, which is still “more than 10 years overdue”, “by the third quarter of next year”.
On this matter, several members of the Transport Committee, including Ciarán Cuffe (Greens/EFA, Irish), stressed the importance of taking into account the impact of the climate crisis in future rules. Others stressed the need to focus on the working conditions of ground staff as this “has an impact on airport slots”, said Petar Vitanov (S&D, Bulgarian).
It remains to be seen what the content of the Commission’s future proposal will be. “Will it be the same proposal as 10 years ago or will it be a new text? The Parliament’s position was decided many years ago: do we keep it or do we drop it?”, asked Marian-Jean Marinescu (EPP, Romanian) in conclusion. (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)