MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the future Aviation Package
4.11.2015 - (2015/2933(RSP))
pursuant to Rule 123(2) of the Rules of Procedure
Curzio Maltese, Stelios Kouloglou, Paloma López Bermejo, Sofia Sakorafa, Kostas Chrysogonos on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group
The European Parliament,
– having regard to its position adopted at first reading on 12 March 2014 on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the implementation of the Single European Sky (recast)[1],
– having regard to its resolution of 2 July 2013 on the EU’s External Aviation Policy – Addressing future challenges[2],
– having regard to Directive 2009/12/EC of 11 March 2009 on airport charges,
– having regard to its resolution of 25 April 2007 on the establishment a European common aviation area,
– having regard to its resolution of 7 June 2011 on international air agreements under the Treaty of Lisbon[3],
– having regard to its position adopted at first reading on 12 March 2014 on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 216/2008 in the field of aerodromes, air traffic management and air navigation services[4],
– having regard to its resolution of 29 October 2015 on allocation by the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-15), to be held in Geneva from 2 to 27 November 2015, of the necessary radio spectrum band to support the future development of a satellite-based technology to enable global flight tracking systems[5],
– having regard to the Commission’s upcoming legislative Aviation Package,
– having regard to Rule 123(2) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas in 2012, the air transport economy in Europe directly supported 2.6 million jobs and is contributing more than 2.4 % of EU GDP;
B. whereas the number of job cuts implemented and scheduled by European airlines since 2012 amounts to more than 20 000;
C. whereas the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the EU and its Member States must improve various legal and financial regulations, such as the intra-EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), extended passenger rights, levies and national taxes, noise reduction at airports and restricting operating hours;
D. whereas the Commission intends to deliver an Aviation Package by the end of 2015 which will identify the challenges facing the EU aviation sector;
1. Opposes any kind of privatisation and liberalisation of the European aviation sector; asks the Member States to support national airline carriers;
2. Underlines the need to preserve and reinforce jobs and working conditions in the aviation sector; underlines the fact that working conditions have an impact on flight safety; condemns any kind of criminalisation of workers and trade unionists; supports workers in their struggle to keep their jobs and working conditions in the different Member States;
3. Emphasises that the aeronautics industry is one of the major contributors to EU growth and jobs and is closely linked to the EU aviation sector, generating a turnover of around EUR 100 billion a year and around 500 000 direct jobs;
4. Requests that the safety chain be enhanced and harmonised by attracting and retaining a skilled, highly trained workforce, while also ensuring that training standards are strengthened, and that entry to the profession (e.g. for pilots) does not result in forms of employment that can be detrimental to flight safety, such as pay-to-fly (P2F) schemes;
5. Recommends pinning down the concept of a ‘principal place of business’ so that the operating licence is granted by a state if the volume of air transport therein is substantial and also in the context of the coordination of social security systems and labour law, aligning the definitions of ‘home base’ in Commission Regulation (EU) No 83/2014 and in Regulation (EU) No 465/2012; recommends, in addition, shortening the transitional period and clarifying the situation of aircrew that have multiple home bases;
6. Recommends the possibility for European workers’ associations to negotiate collective transnational labour agreements;
7. Calls on the Commission to strengthen the protection of workers and consumers in the event of bankruptcy of an air carrier;
8. Notes the challenges in the implementation of the Directive on Temporary Agency Work and recommends that the Commission carry out a revision of the directive’s application in order to promote direct employment as the standard model and limit the use of atypical employment, which can have a negative impact on aviation safety and result in unacceptable and abusive practices;
9. Is concerned about the increase in socially problematic business practices such as ‘flags of convenience’, the unfair practices of low-cost airlines and the use of atypical forms of employment such as bogus self-employment, pay-to-fly schemes and zero-hours contracts, which have safety implications and should be forbidden; takes the view that social standards need be upheld in all aviation activities;
10. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to take measures for the improvement of the medical assessment of pilots, for the setting up of pilot peer support programmes, and for the security, entry and exit procedures concerning cockpit doors, following the risk assessment outlined in the report by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Task Force;
11. Expects that the Aviation Package will address and ensure the full integration of airports in the European transport network; recalls the need for the Aviation Package to be consistent with current and future legislation on passenger rights, including the proposed EU passenger name record (PNR) directive, while urging the Council, because of the Gibraltar issue, to come forward with its position, as both passengers and air carriers are longing for clarity on the rules;
12. Notes that European airports are facing significant pressures from airlines not paying the full cost of the infrastructure; urges the Commission therefore to use these developments to prepare a new legal framework based on social, economic and environmental shared parameters; considers that public management of airports could be an important tool in solving most of the abovementioned problems;
13. Calls on the Member States, in the context of traffic being expected to double by 2030, to make greater efforts to improve the environmental standards at airports, such as noise reduction and emissions reduction;
14. Highlights the fact that air transport connections are relevant for the overall economic development of the regions concerned, and asks the Member States and the Commission, in close collaboration with the regional and local authorities, to highlight the importance of small and regional airports shifting shorter flight distances onto rail when these distances are shorter than five hours’ travelling time within the Union, as this is another way of decongesting larger and hub airports through indirect connections; calls on the Commission, together with the Member States, to present an EU long-term strategic plan addressing the challenges and opportunities of regional airports in the context of airport and rail interconnectivity inside the EU, as air-rail connectivity should be promoted;
15. Notes that the air transport sector is not regulated worldwide, as it is not covered by the WTO; calls on the Commission to negotiate with the ICAO in order to push for worldwide regulation; underlines the importance of globally agreed rules within the ICAO, in order to reduce aviation emissions and to take measures to set adequate targets before the end of 2016 that can deliver on achieving the necessary reductions in light of the 2°C target;
16. Notes the intention to increase the EASA’s responsibilities, and therefore expects that the amended Regulation (EC) No 216/2008 (the Basic Regulation) will ensure the establishment of a comprehensive safety management system and that the EASA will be entrusted with the safety aspects of EU security measures and the safety aspects of commercial space transport and remotely piloted aircraft; calls on the Commission to grant the EASA the status of single aviation authority in Europe in view of the wide range of responsibilities that will be assigned to it by the legislator;
17. Calls on the Commission to strengthen the role of the EASA on the international scene to the same level as its major counterparts such as the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA), and to ensure its official recognition within the ICAO, in order to provide a single EU position to ensure a higher level of worldwide safety for EU citizens, together with the exports of the EU aviation industry;
18. Calls on the Commission to lift the regulatory barriers to satellite-based air traffic surveillance in order to enable life-saving services for EU citizens and asks the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to make the necessary spectrum allocation, given that the ICAO has identified satellite ADS-B as the one technology that can assist flight tracking and air traffic management (ATM) surveillance outside of most densely populated areas, where other forms of terrestrial ATM surveillance technologies are limited; notes that it could help governments, air navigation services providers (ANSPs) and airlines in Europe and around the world to increase air traffic management efficiency and capacity, reducing aviation emission, and significantly enhancing aviation safety, all while lowering infrastructure costs and providing European airspace with another layer of surveillance that could augment the current one;
19. Emphasises that innovation is a prerequisite for the European aviation industry and therefore recommends to the Commission to take into account and support innovations in the fields of air traffic management (e.g. automated ATC, free routing), alternative fuel solutions, aircraft and engine design (more efficiency, less noise), airport security (touchless solutions, one-stop security), digitalisation together with multimodal solutions, support for global environmental solutions, and reducing the aviation carbon footprint by reinforcing measures implemented by the sector itself leading to a net emissions reduction;
20. Stresses that the negotiation of comprehensive aviation agreements with the EU’s major trading partners such as its neighbouring countries, ASEAN countries, Brazil, India, Mexico, Japan and Turkey should be a strategic goal and speeded up or started when deemed realistic; points out that this should provide new opportunities for EU air carriers and enhance financial transparency; insists that in order to make these comprehensive aviation agreements effective in practice, a safeguard clause must be included that defines an offence and the legal consequences of its violation;
21. Calls on the Commission to negotiate an EU air agreement with the Gulf States as soon as possible in order to ensure a level playing field for European airlines and airports;
22. Insists on ‘risk-based security’ for passenger and freight transport instead of reaction-based measures and on a fair and balanced approach to the sensitive issue of aviation safety in order to meet the needs and expectations of the Member States on the one hand and to avoid an unsatisfactory experience for passengers at airports on the other, and calls for a strengthening of the system of AVSEC and SAGAS in order to create security measures;
23. Calls on the budgetary authorities to maintain a budget for the EASA that takes account of those new responsibilities in order to have flexible and effective tools available for EU air transport companies;
24. Calls on the Commission to address all the aforementioned issues in its Aviation Legislative Package to be delivered by the end of 2015;
25. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.
- [1] OJ C 74 E, 20.3.2008, p. 658.
- [2] Texts adopted, P7_TA(2013)0290.
- [3] OJ C 380 E, 11.12.2012, p.5.
- [4] Texts adopted, P7_TA(2014)0221.
- [5] Texts adopted, P8_TA(2015)0392.