Luxembourg, 18/06/2002 (Agence Europe) - On Monday, the Transport Council reached a political agreement on the EU's membership to Eurocontrol, and adopted the proposal of directive strengthening the use of child protection fittings in cars and extending the obligation to wear safety belts to all occupants (passengers and driver) of heavy vehicles and coaches. The agreement covers:
Community membership to Eurocontrol: The Union will be joining Eurocontrol, the European organisation for the safety of air navigation. However, because of a French parliamentary reserve, the signing of the accession protocol, initially scheduled for the diplomatic conference on 24 June, has been postponed. The accession decision will be formally adopted at a forthcoming Council session, which will then make it possible to fix a date for signing the Protocol.
Seatbelts worn in overland transport: The Council reached a political agreement on the proposal of directive strengthening the use of appliances for holding children safely in cars, and extending the obligation to wear seat belts to both drivers and passengers in heavy vehicles and coaches. This directive henceforth covers all vehicles for passenger transport (category M) and goods transport (category N), as well as all passengers in vehicles. The main provisions are as follows: 1) in private cars, all occupants of over 1.50 m in height must use seat belts. Children who are smaller than 1.50 m must be retained by an approved fitting or use the seatbelt for adults if they are over three years of age. Taxis do not have to be equipped with specific equipment for children in the back seat; 2) in heavy vehicles, all occupants must use seat belts; 3) in coaches, all occupants over three years of age must use the vehicle's safety device. At a proposal from France, the delay for bringing school buses into conformity is fixed at 5 years, whereas for large families the Commission has set the deadline at 6 years. Temporary or permanent exemptions, however, will be possible to "take specific circumstances into account".
Insurance in the field of aviation: Commissioner de Palacio explained to the Council the Commission's intention to prolong, after the fashion of the United States, the system of aid to air companies following the attacks on 11 September (see yesterdays EUROPE, p.11). Loyola de Palacio said there is very broad consensus within the Council on the idea of launching the Eurotimes system, but also on returning as quickly as possible to a system that is close to the market. (We recall this concerns a mutual insurance fund that intervenes in damages when the amount of damage is between EUR 50 million and 1 billion). "At the end of the month, the Commission will adopt a communication on the subject", said a source familiar with the issue. Ms de Palacio also presented a proposal aimed at protecting Community airline companies against subsidies and "unfair" tariff practices of some third countries (mainly Switzerland and the United States), and which would allow the Commission to take measures in the form of taxes on air carriers that benefit from such subsidies. The Council invites Coreper to examine the proposal.
Also during discussions: 1) The Council unanimously adopted, but without the agreement of the Commission, a common position on the proposal of directive aimed at improving the safety of air transport by the collection of reports on events that could have been the cause of accidents. The common position will be transmitted to the Parliament for second reading; 2) The Council also adopted a common position on the proposal of regulation concerning the statistical data relating to passenger transport, freight and postal services by air. This common position will be formally adopted during a forthcoming Council session and transmitted to the Parliament for second reading; 3) Loyola de Palacio presented to Ministers the Community's request for membership to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). The Council charged Coreper with studying these proposals; 4) Ms de Palacio also tackled the problem of the list of ten international ports considered as safe by the United States and asked Ministers to coordinate their position on this measure (see EUROPE of 14 June, p.8). Finally, the Council referred two major dossiers (on transeuropean transport networks and the Commission's White Paper on transport) back to Coreper given the differences between delegations.