Conflict over air traffic plans

Date: 09/11/1995

By Michael Mann

THE European Commission is putting the finishing touches to its White Paper on how to ease crippling congestion in the EU's skies. But it faces severe opposition from most member states to the creation of new cross-border structures under the control of the EU institutions.

National governments favour the coordination of existing air traffic control (ATC) systems under the auspices of Eurocontrol, the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation and its harmonisation programme.

So serious has the ATC crisis become that both Transport Commissioner Neil Kinnock and the Spanish presidency have put the issue at the top of their policy agendas. The possible economic damage air traffic problems can cause was brought to everyone's attention during controllers' strikes in southern France in the summer of 1994.

Sceptical officials suggest that the resolution put forward by Spanish Transport Minister José Borrell at the last meeting with his EU counterparts in September was aimed more at demonstrating to the domestic press that he was taking positive action than making a serious attempt to solve the crisis.

But according to a member state official, the message from ministers was clear. “The resolution told the Commission that it should not reinvent the wheel. It stressed the need to support Eurocontrol rather than duplicating it. Member states want EU money, but want the Commission to keep out,” he said.

A Commission communication published in July in preparation for the White Paper suggested giving Eurocontrol's crisis cell greater powers in times of severe capacity problems.

Although it stressed the need to cooperate with Eurocontrol to coordinate more than 50 different ATC systems currently in use in the EU, the Commission hinted that it would like to take things further. “The solution of some problems which may arise on these occasions requires high level political decisions in different domains,” it concluded.

Another idea was to include air traffic management in the Trans-European Networks to raise extra funds from various EU structural funds.

The White Paper itself will present ministers with options for future discussion. A Commission official admitted that it will hint at the Commission's preferred option, but said that “it would be premature to prejudge this before the document is given to Commissioners”.

Officials say it is unlikely that the document will be ready for an initial presentation to transport ministers at their next meeting on 7-8 December.

The 11 EU member states already in Eurocontrol remain frustrated by the stubborn resistance of Spain, Italy, Finland and Sweden to joining the organisation, although moves are now afoot to bring them on board.

While the level of air traffic operating over Finland and Sweden and their geographical position make their membership less crucial, any hopes of improved coordination have been completely undermined by repeated refusals by Spain and Italy - two of the countries with the most serious problems - to take part.

The gravity of the situation is best represented by Commission figures suggesting that over the last ten years, ATC delays have cost European carriers between 1.5 and 2.5 billion ecu every year.

According to the International Air Transport Association, the number of passengers transported by air in Europe will double between now and 2010 to reach 841.9 million people.

Figures from the Association of European Airlines statistics suggest that in 1994, 13&percent; of intra-European flights were delayed by more than 15 minutes. More than half of these were for 'infrastructure reasons' - airport and air traffic congestion.

Evidently, brave words from the Commission and transport ministers will not be enough to solve the problem. The AEA is calling for a strengthened, self-financing and unitary system.

According to its Secretary-General Karl-Heinz Neumeister, the solution is simple: “The Single Market needs a Single Sky.”