Brussels, 10/12/2003 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament and Council reached agreement on the legislative "package" to create the European Single Sky by 31 December 2004, during the first (and last) conciliation meeting in Brussels on Tuesday. The conciliation committee finally managed to align the (totally opposing) positions of the two institutions on the two main points of contention: co-operation between civil and military users of the airspace and the organisation of airspace zones. Although, given the Council's inflexibility, the Parliament had to give in and accept less Community provisions, it (like the Commission) was pleased to learn that issues related to co-operation between civil and military users will be taken into account in this legislative package, which the Council had up to now refused to allow. The text is still to be adopted by the Council and the Parliament at third reading. The Parliament, which is to pronounce itself in January during its Brussels plenary, will not have too many problems approving it as its delegation to the conciliation committee approved it almost unanimously (with the abstention of GUE/NGL).
Here are the main points of the agreement:
1) Proposed regulation setting a framework for the completion of the single European sky: as the Council wished, co-operation between civil and military users of the single European sky will be resolved by a Council declaration, to be published in the Official Journal, and in which the Member States will undertake to strengthen co-operation between civil and military users and between their armed forces for all issues related to air traffic control. The Parliament, therefore, failed to secure the organisation of this co-operation under the "single sky committee" (to be set up once the proposal enters into force). However, Council agreed: - that Eurocontrol (the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation) be involved in preparing the implementation of the proposal, on the basis of a mandate from the single sky committee. Representatives of Eurocontrol could even take part in the committee's work as observers or experts; - for the industrial consultative body, made up of representatives of the sector, to advise the Commission on technical aspects of the implementation of the single European sky.
2) Proposed regulation of the organisation and use of airspace in the single European sky: the definition and modification of airspace zones will remain in the remit of the Member States involved, which will settle it in bilateral agreements. However, Parliament managed to obtain permission for Eurocontrol to provide technical expertise. Furthermore, in case of disagreement between two Member States, the States can decide to bring the matter before the single sky committee. Once the committee has given its opinion, Member States must accept and apply it. It is worth noting, however, that the Member States are under to obligation to bring such matters before the committee. As for the future lower flight information region in Europe, to which the same regulation would apply as for the upper airspace (which we are talking about here and which will be created in the five years following the entry into force of the regulation), the text gives no planned date, as Parliament had hoped. The Commission will draw up a report on this in 2006.
The text of the agreement provides that: once the regulation on the provision of air navigation services in the single European sky enters into force, the Commission will look into presenting proposals to harmonise licences for controllers.; In the meantime, measures will be taken especially to improve the availability of air-traffic controllers and to ensure the mutual recognition of licences; - "interim arrangements" to bring in the service necessary to make the European air traffic control management network will enter into force eighteen months after the entry into force of the regulation of the interoperability of the European air traffic control management network.
Parliament rapporteurs, Giovanni Fava (Demoncratici de sinistra) and Marieke Sanders-Ten-Holte (Liberal, Netherlands) welcomed the agreement, but acknowledged that they would have preferred a more ambitious result. Mr Fava noted that the Member States had made several concessions in terms of sovereignty, and Ms Sanders stressed that fact that this is just the beginning of the process. She was echoed by Brian Simpson (Labour, UK), recognising that Commissioner de Palacio had "tried patiently" to convince Parliament and Council to overcome their differences. This, he commented, was the first time that European legislation had ever provided for co-operation between civilians and the military. The EPP-ED group was also positive, as expressed by George Dimitrakopoulos, Costas Hatzidakis and Carlos Ripoll, and somewhat less so by Ingo Schmitt, who criticised several Member States for their "national selfishness". This view was shared by German Social-Democrat Ulrich Stockmann, who said that the issue of airspace zones had not been satisfactorily resolved, which, he said, should no longer be "defined as a function of their state boundaries, but according to their function".