RECOMMENDATION on the draft Decision of the Council and the representatives of the governments of the Member States, meeting within the Council, on the conclusion of the Common Aviation Area Agreement between the European Union and its Member States and Georgia

13.10.2011 - (09185/2011 – C7‑0124/2011 – 2010/0186(NLE)) - ***

Committee on Transport and Tourism
Rapporteur: Thomas Ulmer
PR_NLE-AP_art90

DRAFT EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION

on the draft Decision of the Council and the representatives of the governments of the Member States, meeting within the Council, on the conclusion of the Common Aviation Area Agreement between the European Union and its Member States and Georgia

(09185/2011 – C7‑0124/2011 – 2010/0186(NLE))

(Consent)

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the draft Council decision (09185/2011),

–   having regard to the draft Common Aviation Area Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and Georgia, of the other part (14370/2010),

–   having regard to the request for consent submitted by the Council in accordance with Articles 100(2), 218(8), first subparagraph, and 218(6), second subparagraph, point (a)(v), of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (C7‑0124/2011),

–   having regard to Rules 81 and 90(7) of its Rules of Procedure,

–   having regard to the recommendation of the Committee on Transport and Tourism (A7‑0344/2011),

1.  Consents to the conclusion of the Agreement;

2.  Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council and the Commission and to the governments and parliaments of the Member States and the Republic of Georgia.

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

This agreement is an international one establishing relations in the field of aviation between the EU and its 27 Member States and Georgia.

Its purpose is the establishment of an EU/Georgia Common Aviation Area. The existing bilateral agreements on air traffic services between the two sides are to be superseded by the new agreement. The agreement is being concluded as part of the EU neighbourhood policy, one of the aims of which is to establish a common aviation area between the EU and its neighbours.

The Council signed the agreement on 2 December 2010. The agreement is being applied provisionally pending its entry into force.

Specifically

The agreement will extend to Georgia all the legislation and rules governing the EU single market in air transport and will establish uniform framework conditions for all aviation undertakings in the EU and Georgia. Application to Georgia of the current legislation on aviation security and safety and air traffic management is the way to reciprocal market opening and it enables all economic stakeholders to participate in the common aviation area on a non-discriminatory basis. This means that in future all aviation undertakings in the EU and Georgia will be able to offer their services from anywhere in the EU to anywhere in Georgia.

The assumption is that reciprocal market opening will bring new participants into the market, entail the use of airports previously inadequately served and result in consolidation among EU aviation undertakings. The Commission estimates that the gradual establishment of the EU/Georgia Common Aviation Area will, in the first year alone, boost passenger numbers by 25 000 and generate benefits to consumers worth around EUR 17 million.

By means of this decision, the Council approves the agreement (Article 1); it also lays down procedural arrangements for its termination (Article 2), for the involvement of the Union and the Member States in the Joint Committee established to implement it (Article 3), for the settlement of disputes (Article 4) and in relation to the Member States’ obligation to inform the Commission, inter alia, about matters concerning aviation safety and aviation security (Article 5).

It is a shared view that the regulatory cooperation between the European Union and Georgia crucially important for the safe, secure, and efficient operation of air services can take place only at EU level, and that the EU’s conclusion of the agreement is therefore compatible with observance of the subsidiarity principle.

Under Article 218(6)(a) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the conclusion of this international agreement is subject to Parliament’s consent. Rule 81 of its Rules of Procedure stipulates that when Parliament is required to give consent to an international agreement it shall do so by means of a single vote, and no amendments to the agreement shall be tabled.

On the basis of the foregoing, the rapporteur recommends that the Committee on Transport and Tourism give its approval for the conclusion of this agreement.

RESULT OF FINAL VOTE IN COMMITTEE

Date adopted	11.10.2011
Result of final vote	+: –: 0:	38 2 0
Members present for the final vote	Inés Ayala Sender, Georges Bach, Izaskun Bilbao Barandica, Antonio Cancian, Michael Cramer, Ryszard Czarnecki, Philippe De Backer, Luis de Grandes Pascual, Christine De Veyrac, Saïd El Khadraoui, Ismail Ertug, Carlo Fidanza, Knut Fleckenstein, Jacqueline Foster, Mathieu Grosch, Dieter-Lebrecht Koch, Georgios Koumoutsakos, Werner Kuhn, Jörg Leichtfried, Marian-Jean Marinescu, Gesine Meissner, Mike Nattrass, Hubert Pirker, David-Maria Sassoli, Vilja Savisaar-Toomast, Olga Sehnalová, Debora Serracchiani, Brian Simpson, Keith Taylor, Silvia-Adriana Ţicău, Georgios Toussas, Giommaria Uggias, Thomas Ulmer, Peter van Dalen, Dominique Vlasto, Artur Zasada, Roberts Zīle
Substitute(s) present for the final vote	Dominique Riquet, Laurence J.A.J. Stassen
Substitute(s) under Rule 187(2) present for the final vote	Margrete Auken