Verbatim report of proceedings

Tuesday, 16 April 2013 - Strasbourg

8.15. Groundhandling services at European Union airports (A7-0364/2012 - Artur Zasada) (vote)

- Después de la votación:

  Neelie Kroes, Vice-President of the Commission. − Mr President, the Commission of course welcomes the result of today’s vote and thanks this Parliament and particularly the rapporteur Mr Zasada for all the hard work that has been done.

We are talking about ground-handling services, and they are a key function in the aviation chain. They are essential for 800 million passengers using EU airports every year, and if we want airports and airlines to remain competitive in Europe, the quality and the efficiency of ground-handling services must be improved, in the passengers’ interest.

Following the adoption of this report, the Commission now calls on the Council and Parliament to start negotiations quickly on the airports package proposals – particularly on slots, noise and ground-handling – by the end of this year.