Hopes fade for hush-kit deal

Date: 10/02/2000

By Renée Cordes

The European Commission is keeping the door open to a compromise with the US government over the EU's planned ban on hush-kitted aircraft, but has warned that there is now only a slim chance of reaching a deal to avert another transatlantic trade war.

Commission officials insisted this week that the Union would press ahead with the ban on 1 May unless it received a firm commitment from the US to forge a united front on new international standards.

"There is still a very thin possibility to work on the basis of postponing our regulation," said a Commission spokesman, dismissing reports that there was now no chance that the EU would delay the controversial law once again.

The measure approved by member states last year would outlaw planes fitted with 'hush kits', which reduce engine noise levels to those required under International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) rules. Airlines would be prevented from registering hush-kitted planes in the Union from May this year, and flying those registered in non-EU countries from 2002.

The first part of the ban was originally due to come into force more than a year ago but EU governments agreed to delay it for 12 months following pressure from Washington, which launched an unprecedented lobbying campaign against the measure contending that it would hit more than €1-billion worth of equipment made by US companies.

In a letter to US Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater late last week, Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio said the Union could postpone the measure if the US withdrew its threat to file a complaint with the ICAO. A victory for the US would force the Union to drop its ban or lose its voting rights in the organisation, but American officials have said they will not carry out the threat if the ban is postponed.

The European Commission is keeping the door open to a compromise with the US government over the EU's planned ban on hush-kitted aircraft, but has warned that there is now only a slim chance reaching a deal to avert another transatlantic trade war.