Transport chief buoyed in quest for single sky

Date: 05/12/02

By Karen Carstens

'THE English, a haughty nation, arrogate to themselves the empire of the sea; the French, a buoyant nation, make themselves master of the air.'

These words, uttered by the Count of Provence (the later Louis XVIII of France) on the occasion of the first manned flight by balloon, constructed by the Montgolfier brothers in 1783, may not necessarily apply in the modern age of commercial aircraft.

Still, it was perhaps fitting that Loyola de Palacio, the transport and energy commissioner, felt buoyed in her quest for a 'single sky' over Europe after meeting Gilles de Robien, the French transport minister, last Thursday (28 November).

'The single sky is a necessity, notably for the airline industry and for passengers, which will allow for increased security,' de Palacio said after their tête-à-tête in Paris.

'As we have indicated in our initial proposals, legislative advancements must be completed by increased social dialogue and validation by European air traffic controllers.'

The Spanish commissioner assured de Robien that the single sky package - which ministers are set to vote on in Brussels this week during the Transport Council meeting (5-6 December) - left ample room for member states to decide how they want to operate their air traffic control systems.

Launched by de Palacio in October 2001, the single sky scheme aims to merge national and regional airspace 'blocks' into larger areas supervised by fewer control centres.

It also involves bringing all air traffic controllers under unified supervision so that airlines can fly routes that are not defined by national borders.

The plan's proponents say it would boost capacity by up to 50%, making room for more planes in the skies.

But air traffic controllers have expressed scepticism, claiming that this would strap resources and threaten safety.

'We are already under one European sky,' Joël Cariou, spokesman for the ATCEUC (Air Traffic Controllers European Unions Coordination), an umbrella group of 14 air traffic unions, recently told European Voice. 'We don't want one European 'market sky' but one European 'safe sky'.'

Cariou has suggested that the proposal is a cynical attempt by the EU to pander to airlines lobbying for cost reductions.

He argues that the current system, supervised by Eurocontrol - the 31-member intergovernmental aviation safety body, which the EU joined in October - already provides an efficient system that should be built on,not replaced.

'The current system needs to be improved, for sure, but it's not a bad one,' he said.

In a response to such concerns, MEPs voted last spring to give Eurocontrol an active role in the project.

'We will address the technical issues - safety, efficiency and the environment,' Eurocontrol director George Paulson said.

The Association of European Airlines (AEA), on the other hand, has been more supportive of de Palacio's initiative.

'This is something AEA has campaigned very hard for since 1989,' said its spokesman David Henderson.

Although the AEA essentially came up with - and has been promoting - the idea, he said it was not until Romano Prodi took over as Commission president that the EU's executive made it a priority.

'It was one of the major points on his agenda and he put it in the centre of de Palacio's plate,' Henderson added.

The ministers will also discuss the 'open skies' issue, in the wake of last month's landmark ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

It declared that elements of agreements over transatlantic routes between the United States and eight EU countries - the UK, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Austria and Germany - were illegal.

De Palacio followed up the ruling, which could give the Commission the right to negotiate a new agreement on behalf of all member states (if the latter agree), with a formal request that existing bilateral accords are renounced.

'The Court's ruling means that member states cannot act independently to conclude bilateral agreements anymore,' she said, adding that she had asked the Council to grant the Commission 'a negotiating mandate for a common transatlantic aviation area'.

Henderson said the AEA is also in favour of establishing such a common aviation zone, but felt that the Commission has been a bit pushy in its demands following the open skies ruling.

'The Commission has used the decision of the ECJ to make some very strong statements indeed which are likely to provoke some reaction from member states,' he said.

'What we want to see right now is a period of calm, reasoned debate where the practicality of this issue is discussed - it governs the entire transport infrastructure across the Atlantic.'

Loyola de Palacio, the transport and energy commissioner, felt buoyed in her quest for a 'single sky' over Europe after meeting Gilles de Robien, the French transport minister, on 28 November 2002.