Luxembourg, 10/12/2004 (Agence Europe) - The European Court of Justice has declared that the Community's EC directive of 1996 on access to the airport ground-handling service market is incompatible with the Italian legal decree of 1999 which was supposed to transpose the directive into national legislation, says a Court communication. The obligation enshrined in the decree to guarantee the transfer of staff from the previous supplier to its successor makes the entry of new suppliers into the market and the reduction of costs for passengers excessively difficult, says the Court.
The Court recalls that the 1996 directive leaves it to the member states to ensure an adequate level of social protection for staff in ground-handling companies. But this power must be exercised in a way which does not undermine the aims of the directive, that is: opening up the market for ground-handling services, hereby helping to reduce costs for airlines, says the communication. The Court states that “taking social considerations into account (…) would compromise the opening up of these markets and affect rational use of airport infrastructures”.
Ground-handling services entail handling baggage, runway services, freight and postal services and also refuelling.