Brussels, 24/10/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has written to France, Germany and Austria asking them to notify within five days aid granted to their airline companies in the form of guarantees for insurance premiums linked to the risks of war and terrorism. The guarantee plans were adopted as early as end-September, following the meeting of the EcoFin Council of Liege that defined the code of conduct to enable Member States to guarantee the companies' insurance premiums for a month, "but the Commission has still not received notification from these three Sates a few days before the month expires", the spokesperson for the Commissioner for Transport points out.
As EUROPE mentioned briefly yesterday, the Commission has already endorsed the British plan, considering that it corresponded to the criteria set out in its 10 October Communication on the "consequences of the attacks in the United States on the airline sector". It also accepted the British public guarantees offered to certain service providers in the airline sector, like airports". "This decision was taken on a case by case basis and on the basis of precise information", Commission sources tell us. The European executive should soon decide on the guarantee plans notified by other Member States. At the same time, the ad hoc group formed at the request of the Transport Council of 14 September defined a model of State guarantee so as to ensure coherence in decisions taken by Member States during the additional month of guarantee approved at the EcoFin Council of 16 October.
The Commission has also asked France for additional information of the whole of its aid plan for French air transport, of which "it was informed by the press", according to de Palacio's spokesperson. French Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot told the press, at the last Transport Council, that France intended to mobilise FF 2 billion (304 million euro, funded half by passengers) to finance additional safety measures and provide economic assistance for the companies: FF 300 million to cover the 4 days of losses while the American air space was closed and some fifty million for losses the following days.