Brussels, 25/02/2002 (Agence Europe) - The member states of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) adopted, on Wednesday, a declaration calling on the ICAO to establish a worldwide action plan to strengthen aviation security by 14 June 2002, the date when the next ICAO Council closes. The plan provides for "regular, mandatory, systematic and harmonised aviation security audits". The cost of this supervision programme is estimated at $17 million for 2002-2004, which should be provided by members of the Organisation.
In a statement adopted after the ministerial conference on aviation security organised after the attacks of 11 September, the members of the ICAO pledge to fully implement the multilateral conventions on security and to apply additional measures on national territory. Under pressure from Europeans who fear that the United States would apply unilateral measures, they also undertake to "foster international cooperation in the field of aviation security and harmonise the implementation of security measures". The future action plan should ensure in this respect "close coordination and coherence with audit programmes at the regional and sub-regional level". We recall that the Council reached a political agreement in December on a system of common rules and audit concerning the security of civil aviation, which take on board the rules of the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC).
Europeans, on the other hand, did not manage to reject a paragraph, which stipulates that the States should ensure that "security measures are implemented in a most cost-effective way in order to avoid undue burden on civil aviation". "This is tantamount to saying that costs must be borne by the States", one European source told AFP in Montreal, accusing the ICAO of having given way to pressure from the air lobbies. The ICAO declaration is clear on this point, affirming that "a global aviation security system imposes a collective responsibility on all States". The declaration also specifies that security measures must be "implemented in a manner which is objective and non-discriminatory on the basis of gender, race, religion or nationality". The EU Member States had agreed before the Conference to insist on the protection of individual rights in conformity with national legislation.
The future Action Plan will, among other things, concern the controversial issue of protecting the pilot's cabin. The United States is pressing for the cockpit doors to be bullet-proof and closed, while several EU Member States are reticent as they fear there may be problems of communication between pilots and crews.