Strasbourg, 14/11/2001 (Agence Europe) - Thirty MEPs signed an appeal for the "establishment of an immediate moratorium on deregulation in the air transport sector". They stress that, after the employees of Swissair, Sabena, Air Liberté-AOM and Tap-Air Portugal, the employees of Alitalia are now "also faced with the prospect of downsizing". The MEPs, mainly from the United Left and Socialist Groups of the EP, consider it necessary to redirect European policies to make employment and the promotion of sustainable transport a real priority. With this in mind, they call for "public and objective" assessment of the consequences of deregulation already carried out, and a European and international cooperation policy to "improve the quality of user services and to enhance environmental protection".