Strasbourg, 07/04/2006 (Agence Europe) - It is high time for the European Commission to put forward proposals to find a solution to the problem of the funding of the additional safety measures which were brought in the wake of the attacks of 11 September in New York. During Wednesday's plenary session several MEPs pleaded in favour of the implementation of a system to lay down clear and efficient competition conditions in this area, and Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot has promised the report "before the summer".
The issue of funding the safety measures is a "difficult" one, Mr Barrot acknowledged. And for a good reason, as regulation 2320/2002 (which brings in additional common safety measures in the field of civil aviation and which has been in force since April 2003) does not resolve the issue because, at the time, the Council refused to commit itself on the cost of these measures. In an inter-institutional declaration, the Commission then undertook to carry out a study on how this funding could be divided up between public and private sectors and to submit proposals if needs be. According to this study, which was published in September 2004, total expenditure under the heading of safety in the EU of 15 stood between 2.5 and 3.6 billion euros in 2002. This study also showed "the diversity of funding models" for these measures from one Member State to the next and "a lack of transparency regarding the taxes and charges" levied, Commissioner Barrot explained. "This is the time to be presenting proposals, not studies", said German Christian Democrat Georg Jarzembowski, who takes the view that "it is up to the Member States to fund " these safety measures. For the time being, it is the passengers who are bearing the burden of these taxes, said Belgian Socialist Saïd El Khadraoui, who believes that the proposed regulation put forward in September 2005 to simplify and clarify regulation 2320/2003 is a good thing, but "once again" if aid is the problem of funding. However, in order to avoid internal and external competition distortions (in the United States, it is the public authorities who pay for the safety measures), the Commission must imperatively "propose uniform and clear rules" establishing a fair system of funding between the public authorities, the industrial sector and the passengers. In my report on the proposal aiming to modify regulation 2320/2003, "there will be proposals on the funding of these measures", warned Paolo Costa (ALDE, Italy). He went on to say that the basic common safety standards should be co-funded by the Member States and the passengers, whilst national safety measures going beyond the basic common measures should be paid for solely by the Member States. It is true that we must "correct" the diversity of approaches and the lack of transparency which currently prevail, Mr Barrot acknowledged, promising a report which would " answer the question" "before the summer", once he is in possession of the results of a similar study carried out in the maritime sector.