The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the Commission proposal to the Council (COM(2006)0113)(1),

–   having regard to its resolution of 17 January 2006 on developing the agenda for the Community's external aviation policy(2),

–   having regard to Rule 103(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.   whereas, in view of its accession to the EU, Romania should be treated differently from the other States and whereas Bulgaria, despite its accession, is subject to a protective clause with regard to security interests and should therefore be treated like a third country,

B.   whereas the Council has adopted the provisional agreement as proposed by the Commission and whereas this provisional agreement awaits ratification by all parties,

C.   whereas the European Common Aviation Area (ECAA) agreement is important as a framework agreement for dealing with aviation-related issues with the countries of the Western Balkans, Iceland and Norway, in particular, and whereas it provides a model for future agreements of this kind with other third countries,

Environment

1.  Notes that it is important that the ECAA agreement should cover current and future EU legislation on emissions and other measures that will reduce the environmental impact of aviation;

2.  Welcomes the fact that the parties to the agreement accept that at some point in the future aviation may be included in emissions trading schemes (ETS);

3.  Stresses the importance of the agreement in terms of creating the conditions for enlarging the Single European Sky (SES) beyond Member States;

Safety and Security

4.  Underlines the importance, therefore, of technical assistance and accession negotiations as means of obtaining the necessary consensus with non-EU and non-EEA partners in order to attain this objective;

5.  Insists that all EU safety and security legislation and Regulation (EC) No 1107/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 July 2006 concerning the rights of disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility when travelling by air(3) must be included in the operational annex to the agreement;

6.  Notes that air traffic management is included in the agreement, a fact which is important from the point of view of applying the SES rules, such as those for developing transborder air space blocks;

7.  Welcomes the advantages of reciprocal and coherent application of the Safety Assessment contained in Directive 2004/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 on the safety of third-country aircraft using Community airports(4) by all parties to the agreement;

8.  Recalls that achieving the SES objective also entails flexibility of airspace, which necessitates institutionalised cooperation between military and civil authorities in the field of air traffic control;

Social issues

9.  Welcomes the role of the European Aviation Safety Agency in training experts, preparing manuals and providing technical advice to partner countries, as well as in helping to establish implementation mechanisms;

10.  Stresses the fact that relevant EU social legislation must be complied with when implementing the agreement;

11.  Notes that the agreement provides for the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 3922/91 of 16 December 1991 on the harmonization of technical requirements and administrative procedures in the field of civil aviation(5);

12.  Notes that there must be prompt implementation of the commitments in the agreement and that a progress report must be submitted to the European Parliament by 31 December 2008;

13.  Calls on the Commission and the Council to ensure that the agreement reflects these key considerations and that arrangements for monitoring are established in connection with the implementation process;

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14.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and Commission.

(1) Not yet published in OJ. (2) 2 OJ C 287 E, 24.11.2006, p. 84. (3) 1 OJ L 204, 26.7.2006, p. 1. (4) 2 OJ L 143, 30.4.2004, p. 76. Directive as amended by Regulation (EC) No 2111/2005 (OJ L 344, 27.12.2005, p. 15). (5) 3 OJ L 373, 31.12.1991, p. 4. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1900/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 377, 27.12.2006, p. 176).