Verbatim report of proceedings

Wednesday, 15 February 2006 - Strasbourg

Explanations of vote

Text tabled : A6-0007/2006

  Fernand Le Rachinel (NI), in writing. – (FR) Just this once, we can be pleased with this text for several reasons. The introduction of a common air traffic controller licence cannot fail to make a great contribution to the objective of safety that we all want to see for this sector, a sector in which we have unfortunately seen too many examples of tragic aviation incidents. To this end, I am also pleased that the supplementary system of black lists of airlines considered to be dangerous has been established and can be applied to all of the States of the European Union.

Furthermore, I believe that it should be noted that Europe is moving in the right direction in terms of the harmonisation of the professional training and competences of air traffic controllers. They are not in fact being harmonised downwards; quite the opposite. With regard to the conditions for entry into the profession, the qualifications required and the content of initial training, relatively high social, technical, linguistic and professional standards are provided for.

This is particularly essential since, all too often unfortunately, air traffic controllers have to manage extreme and dangerous situations such as the hijacking of an aircraft or an air crisis. We must therefore protect this profession, because the safety of the passengers of an entire sector depends on it.