Brussels, 08/10/2008 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 7 October, the European Parliament's transport committee adopted at second reading the report by Ulrich Stockmann (PES, Germany) on the proposal for a directive on harbour duties (EUROPE 9530). The vote confirms the agreement reached between Parliament and Council, in particular concerning the scope of the directive that will apply to the largest airports of member states and to all airports through which over 5 million passengers transit annually. The Parliament is expected to give its stance at second reading during its next plenary session in Strasbourg (20-23 October). The Council reached a political agreement on the text in April this year (EUROPE 9637).
Presented by the European Commission in January 2007, the directive in question will govern the charges that airports have to pay for access to airport services via a uniform system that will apply at least to each main airport of a member state and to all airports that serve over 5 million passengers each year. Thus, in addition to the large airports such as London Heathrow in the UK, Frankfurt and Stuttgart in Germany, Paris-Charles de Gaulle in France, Rome Fiumicino in Italy and Amsterdam Schiphol in the Netherlands, the directive will also apply to the airports of Alicante, Barcelona, Berlin (Tegel and Schönefeld), Birmingham, Bourgas, Bristol, Catania, Düsseldorf, Edinburgh, Faro, Glasgow, Gran Canaria, Hamburg, Hanover, Heraklion, Cologne/Bonn, Lanzarote, Larnaka, London Gatwick, Luton, Stansted, Lyons, Madrid/Barajas, Malaga, Manchester, Marseilles-Provence, Milan (Linate and Malpensa), Munich, Newcastle, Nice-Côte d'Azur, Paphos, Palma de Majorca, Paris (Orly), Rhodes, Tenerife, Timisoara, Toulouse (Blagnac and CCER), Varna and Venice, as well as Warsaw, Vienna, Vilnius, Tallinn, Riga, Sofia, Stockholm, Prague, Brussels Zaventem, Dublin, Malta, Ljubljana, Luxembourg, Helsinki, Copenhagen, Bucharest, Budapest, Bratislava and Lisbon. The text sets in place an independent consultation mechanism ensured by an independent supervisory authority established in each member state to settle disputes between airport users (airlines) and airports, in particular with regard to charges. The airport management entities should publish the new charges at least two months before they come into effect and the independent supervisory authority will have four weeks from the date of receiving a complaint to take a provisional decision on the subject of the charge in question (this time limit would be extended from four to six months in exceptional cases). The directive also links the pre-financing of investment in airports to the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) policies. MEPS considered it appropriate to exclude from the directive's scope all charges providing services to passengers with disabilities or reduced mobility, as such services have been made free of charge by the new European Commission regulation. The report was approved unanimously by all 16 taking part in the vote. (A.By./transl.jl)