Barcelona/Brussels, 15/03/2002 (Agence Europe) - The Spanish Minister for the Economy, Rodrigo Rato, announced on Friday in Barcelona that the Transport Council is expected to make its views known on the public risk insurance cover scheme against "terrorism" and "war" for airlines, next Tuesday. The Europeans could see the system set up following the attacks on 11 September and which was due to end on 20 March, extended further. The objective would be to put the airlines on the same competitive footing as their US competitors, given that the USA is expected to announce that they will be extending their public cover scheme by an additional 60 days.
The European Commissioner for Transport, Loyola de Palacio, had indicated, during the last ECOFIN Council on 5 March, that the Commission was in favour of extending he European system. Economics and Finance Ministers had at that moment preferred to await the decisions of Japan and the USA (see EUROPE 6 March page 9-10). This decision must be taken urgently in certain Member States where the national aid systems expire before the European system. Scandinavian countries are rather reticent, believing that the insurance market has bounced back to its old self. Countries from the South have observed that the market has stabilised, but risk premiums were ten times higher than before the attacks and the conditions had become extremely severe, with insurance companies refusing to provide cover for more than one accident. One observer has noted that several Member States, such as the United Kingdom and Germany are divided between the opinions of their Transport Ministers, who want the scheme extended, and their Ministers for the Economy who are more wary about any such extension.
The association representing the national airline companies, AEA, is studying a "cooperative fund" insurance project against the risk of war that would fill the gap pending the creation of an international fund in the context of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) (See EUROPE of 6 March, p.9). Financing of this project is, however, far from being settled.