40 Amendments of David Maria SASSOLI related to 2011/0391(COD)
Amendment 44 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 4
Recital 4
(4) The slot allocation system established in 1993 does not ensure the optimum allocation and use of slots and thus of airport capacity. In the context of growing airport congestion and the limited development of major new airport infrastructure, the slots are a rare resource. Access to such resources is of crucial importance for the provision of air transport services and for the maintenance of effective competition. To this end, the allocation and use of slots could be made more effective by introducing market mechanisms, by ensuring that the unused slots are made available to interested operators as soon as possible and in a transparent manner, and by reinforcing the underlying principles of the system with regard to the allocation, management and use of the slots. At the same time, although the historical slots meet the need for stability in schedules for the airlines, during the future assessment of the application of this Regulation, a gradual introduction of other market mechanisms could be envisaged, such as withdrawing and auctioning historical slotconcerns regarding efficient allocation of slots must continue to be balanced against the need to protect the external benefits of air transport services and in particular the value that they create for European regions.
Amendment 48 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 6
Recital 6
(6) The allocation of slots at congested airports shouldmust continue to be based on neutral, transparent and non-discriminatory rules.
Amendment 53 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 12
Recital 12
(12) Situations where, owing to a lack of available slots, the benefits of liberalisation are unevenly spread and competition is distorted, shoulneed also to be avoided .
Amendment 56 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 13
Recital 13
(13) The progress made in implementing the Single European Sky has a major impact on the slot allocation process. The imposition of performance plans, which make the airports, the air navigation service providers and airspace users subject to performance improvement and monitoring measures, and the network management function, based on the establishment of a European network of routes and a central air traffic management, means it is necessary to update the slot allocation rules. It is therefore necessary to create an adequate framework allowing the network manager, the performance evaluation body and the national supervisory authorities to participate in the procedure of setting the airport capacity and coordination parameters. A new category of airports of interest for this network should also be created with a view to allowing the network to react better in crisis situationsTo that end an inter-airport information exchange system should be introduced between airports with no designation or coordinators and the coordinators themselves in order to enhance air traffic management and planning.
Amendment 61 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 16
Recital 16
(16) Additional obligations should be introduced for air carriers with regard to sending information to the coordinators. Provision should be made for additional penalties for omitting information or sending false or misleading information. For network airports with no specific designation, the air carriers should have the obligation to communicate their flight intentions or other relevant information requested by the coordinator or schedules facilitator.
Amendment 63 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 17
Recital 17
(17) The Union should facilitate cooperation between the coordinators and schedules facilitators to allow them to exchange best practices with a view to the establishment of a European coordinator in due courseat the earliest opportunity and in line with the implementation of a Single European Sky.
Amendment 65 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 21
Recital 21
(21) The period of validity for a series of slots should be limited to the schedule planning period for which the series is granted. The priority for allocating a series of slots, even historical slots, should come from the allocation or confirmation by the coordinator and should be based on compliance with all the rules under this Regulation governing slot allocation and enabling that slot allocation to continue into the next scheduling season.
Amendment 70 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 23
Recital 23
(23) Since the environmental aspects may be taken into account in the coordination parameters and regional connectivity can also be fully ensured in the context of the public service obligations, experience has not shown that local rules are useful. Furthermore, it cannot be excluded that such rules do not lead to discrimination in allocating slots. Consequently, the option of resorting to local rules should be restricted. All the technical, operational, performance and environmental constraints that should be applied by the coordinators or the facilitators should be defined in the coordination parameters. The resort to local rules would also be reduced to supervising the use of slots and the possibility of reducincreasing the length of the series of slots in the cases provided for by this Regulation. With a view to promoting better use of airport capacity, two basic principles in slot allocation should be reinforced, namely the definition of the series of slots and the calculation of historical slots. At the same time, the flexibility given to air carriers should be better regulated with a view to preventing distortions during the application of this Regulation in the Member States. Therefore, better use of airport capacity should be encouraged.
Amendment 76 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 24
Recital 24
(24) To allow air carriers to adapt to imperative situations of urgency, such as a marked decline in traffic or an economic crisis that severely affects the activity of air carriers, affecting a lager part of the scheduling period, the Commission should be allowed to adopt urgent measures to ensure the consistency of measures to be taken at coordinated airports. These measures will allow the Commission to lower the time slot use threshold to under 85%, thereby enabling air carriers to retain priority in allocating the same series for the following scheduling period even if the 85% rate has not been metfollowing that in which they reach the aforesaid threshold.
Amendment 83 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 26
Recital 26
(26) Experience shows that a significant number of slots are returned to the pool too late to be reallocated effectively. The airport managing body should be encouraged to use the airport charge system to discourage this type of behaviourfinancial charging schemes and significantly strengthen the current penalty system in order to dissuade air carriers from such practices. Despite having recourse to thisese mechanisms, the airport managing body should not, however, discourage air carriers from entering the market or developing services.
Amendment 87 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 28
Recital 28
(28) The application of the provisions of this Regulation shouldmust be without prejudice to the competition rules of the Treaty, in particular Articles 101 , 102 and 106 .
Amendment 96 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 9
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 9
Amendment 99 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 13
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 13
13) ‘'series of slots’' shall mean at least 15 slots for a summer scheduling period and 10 slots for a winter scheduling period requested for the same time on the same day of the week for consecutive weeks and allocated by the coordinator on that basis or, if that is not possible, allocated at approximately the same time;. When an airport reaches a level of congestion of 80% during peak weeks and 70% during off-peak weeks, that airport may introduce a congestion local rule to lengthen the series of slots qualifying for a historic period,
Amendment 106 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 18
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 18
Amendment 124 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 9
Article 3 – paragraph 9
Amendment 126 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 10
Article 3 – paragraph 10
10. If a decision is taken under paragraphs 6, 8 or 98, the Member State shall communicate it to the bodies mentioned in paragraph 4 no later than 1 April for the winter scheduling period and no later than 1 September for the summer scheduling period.
Amendment 128 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1
At a coordinated or schedules facilitated airport, the Member State responsible shall ensure the determination of the coordination parameters twice yearly, while taking account of all relevant technical, operational , performance and environmental constraints as well as any changes thereto. These constraints shall be notified to the Commission. The Commission, if necessary with the aid of the network manager, shall examine the constraints and deliver recommendations which the Member State must take into account before determining the coordination parameters.
Amendment 134 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 1 – point b – point i
Article 5 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 1 – point b – point i
i) in legal terms, the coordinator's essential functions, which consist of allocating slots in an equal and non-discriminatory manner, shall be given to a natural or legal person who or which is not a service provider in the airport, an airline operating from the airport or the managing body of the airport in question; in order to prove that they do not share common interests with these entities, the coordinator or schedules facilitator must submit an annual declaration of their financial interests;
Amendment 136 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 1 – point b – point ii a (new)
Article 5 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 1 – point b – point ii a (new)
iia) to that end, the coordinator or schedules facilitator, whether as a natural or legal person, must not have been employed by, or worked regularly with, the airport managing body or a service provider or airline company operating at/from the airport in question for the two years preceding their appointment and for two years from the end of their duties as a coordinator or schedules facilitator.
Amendment 141 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 1
Article 6 – paragraph 1
1. At the end of each scheduling periodOn an annual basis, the coordinator or schedules facilitator shall submit to the Member States concerned and to the Commission an activity report describing the general slot allocation and/or schedules facilitation situation, examining, in particular, the application of Article 9(5) and Articles 13 and 18, as well as any complaints regarding the application of Articles 9 and 10 submitted to the coordination committee and the steps taken to resolve them. The report shall also contain the results of a survey conducted among the interested parties on the quality of services provided by the coordinator.
Amendment 156 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1
Article 7 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1
Air carriers operating or intending to operate at a schedules facilitated or coordinated airport belonging to the network shall submit to the schedules facilitator or coordinator all relevant information requested by them. If this information changes, the air carriers shall inform the schedules facilitator and the coordinator as soon as possiblet the earliest suitable and possible opportunity. All relevant information shall be provided in the format and within the time-limit specified by the schedules facilitator or coordinator. In particular, an air carrier shall inform the coordinator, at the time of the request for allocation, whether it would benefit from the status of new entrant, in accordance with Article 2(2), in respect of requested slots.
Amendment 165 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1
Article 8 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1
At a coordinated airport, the Member State responsible shall ensure that a coordination committee is set up. The same coordination committee may be designated for more than one airport. Membership of this committee shall be open at least to the air carriers using the airport(s) in question regularmore than occasionally and their representative organisations, the managing body of the airport concerned, the relevant air traffic control authorities, the representatives of general aviation using the airport regularly , the network manager, the performance review body and the national supervisory authority of the Member State concerned . The coordination committee may invite other slot allocation stakeholders to be observers; however, when a third party requests to participate in a coordination committee meetings, the committee shall be entitled to check the credentials of the requesting third party and the relevance of their request.
Amendment 182 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 9 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 2
Article 9 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 2
Among requests from new entrants, preferenceconsideration shall only be given to air carriersthose qualifying for new entrant status under Article 2(2)( (b).
Amendment 185 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 9 – paragraph 3
Article 9 – paragraph 3
3. Without prejudice to Article 10(2), in a situation where all slot requests cannot be accommodated to the satisfaction of the air carriers concerned, preference shall be given to commercial air services and in particular to scheduled air services and programmed non-scheduled air services. In the case of competing requests within the same category of services, priority shall be given for year round operations.
Amendment 195 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 9 – paragraph 8
Article 9 – paragraph 8
8. The coordinator shall also take into account additional guidelines established by the air transport industry Union -wide or world-wide as well as local guidelines proposed by the coordination committee and approved by the Member State or any other competent body responsible for the airport in question, provided that such guidelines do not affect the independent status of the coordinator, comply with Union law, aim at improving the efficient use of airport capacity and have been notified in advance to and pre-approved by the Commission . The local guidelines may only concern the monitoring of the use of slots allocated or the amendment of the defdeterminiation of a series of slots to reduce its length below 10 slots for the winter scheduling period or below 15 slots for the summer scheduling period, but under no circumstances below 5 slots. The reductioncapacity. The increase of the length of the series of slots applies only after an impact analysis at airports where demand for air services is highly seasonable.
Amendment 200 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 10 – paragraph 1
Article 10 – paragraph 1
1. Series of slots are allocated from the slot pool by the coordinator with the utmost transparency and fairness to applicant carriers as permissions to use the airport infrastructure for the purpose of landing or take-off for the scheduling period for which they are requested, at the expiry of which they have to be returned to the slot pool as set up according to the provisions of Article 9.
Amendment 204 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 10 – paragraph 2 – point a
Article 10 – paragraph 2 – point a
a) a series of slots has been used by that air carrier for the operation of scheduled and programmed non-scheduled air services, and
Amendment 215 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 10 – paragraph 3
Article 10 – paragraph 3
3. Re-timing of series of slots before the allocation of the remaining slots from the pool referred to in Article 9 to the other applicant air carriers shall be accepted only for operational reasons such as, changes in the type of aircraft used or route operated by the air carrier. It shall not take effect until expressly confirmed by the coordinator or, in the case of series of slots allocated to new entrants as defined in Article 2, if the slot timing for those requesting air carriers is better than the slot timing originally requested . It shall not take effect until expressly confirmed by the coordinator.
Amendment 229 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 10 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 1 – point a – point iii
Article 10 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 1 – point a – point iii
iii) serious disturbance of operations at the airports concerned, including those series of slots at other Union airports related to routes which have been affected by such disturbance, during a substantial part of the relevant scheduling period;
Amendment 231 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 10 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 1 – point c
Article 10 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 1 – point c
c) serious financial damage for a Union air carrier concerned, resulting in the granting of a temporary licence by the licensing authorities pending financial reorganisation of the air carrier in accordance with Article 9(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1008/2008;
Amendment 244 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 11 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 11 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
1. The managing body of a coordinated airport may decide to use the airport charges system with the aim of dissuadingshall introduce financial sanctions imposed on air carriers fromthat have belatedly returning slots to the pool referred to in Article 9 and to hold them liable for having reserved airport infrastructure without using it. The following principles shall be respected:.
Amendment 249 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 12 – paragraph 1
Article 12 – paragraph 1
1. Where public service obligations have been imposed on a route in accordance with Article 16 of Regulation (EC) No 1008/2008, a Member State may reserve the slots required for the operations envisaged on that route at a coordinated airport. If the reserved slots on the route concerned are not used, they shall be made available to any other air carrier interested in operating the route in accordance with the public service obligations, subject to paragraph 2. If no other carrier is interested in operating the route and the Member State concerned does not issue a call for tenders under Article 16(10), Article 17(3) to (7), and Article 18(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1008/2008, the slots shall either be reserved for another route subject to public service obligations or be returned to the pool. Slots should be returned to the pool when they are not being used after a maximum period of 6 months. When a route does not any longer meet the requirement for Public Service Obligations slots reservation, the slots are either reserved for another route subject to public service obligations or remain with the air carrier which was using them if the requirement of Article 10 (2) was met for the series concerned.
Amendment 260 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 13 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 a (new)
Article 13 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 a (new)
The Member State take steps to ensure that 10% of the proceeds of the sale of the time slots is paid into a fund for the enlargement and infrastructural and technological improvement of airports. In the interests of complete transparency, that fund shall be managed by a transport supervisory authority as stipulated in Directive 2009/12/EC. The fund must always be managed in such a way as to ensure that the principles of separate accounting are followed, so that the financial amounts to be allocated from the fund to each airport can be established.
Amendment 267 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 13 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 3
Article 13 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 3
For the transfers or exchanges referred to in paragraph 1(b) and (c), the air carriers shall give the coordinator the details of any monetary or any other kind of compensation. The deatails regarding compensation for the transfers or exchanges are confidential and the coordinator shall only divulge such details to the Member State where the airport is situa must be set out in detail in an annual report to be submitted orby the Commission, upon their requestcoordinator or schedules facilitator. The transfers or exchanges may not be subject to conditions intended to limit the possibility for the air carrier wishing to obtain the slots from entering into competition with the air carrier which transfers or exchanges the slots.
Amendment 281 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 18 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1
Article 18 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1
Air carriers that repeatedly or intentionally operate air services at a time significantly different from the slot allocated as part of a series of slots or use slots in a significantly different way from that indicated at the time of allocation shall lose their priority as referred to in Article 10(2). The coordinator may decide to withdraw from that air carrier the series of slots in question for the remainder of the scheduling period and place them in the pool after having consulted the air carrier concerned and after issuing a single warning. If the air carrier requests equivalent slots, the coordinator is not obliged to allocate them.
Amendment 285 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 18 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 1 – introductory part
Article 18 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 1 – introductory part
Member States shall ensure thaimplement effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions are availablfinancial penalties and/ or appropriate sand arections that are effectively applied to deal with
Amendment 286 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 18 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 1 – indent 1
Article 18 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 1 – indent 1
– repeated orair carriers that intentionally, or General Aviation / Business aviation that intentionally, operation ofes air services without a corresponding slot or at times significantly different from the allocated slots or with the use of slots in a significantly different way from that indicated at the time of allocation;
Amendment 291 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 18 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 1 – indent 2
Article 18 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 1 – indent 2
– the return of slots series after 31 January for the following summer season or after 31 August for the following winter season, or the retention of unused slots; the penalty should in any case take account of the possible use of the mechanism provided by Article 11;
Amendment 294 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 18 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 2
Article 18 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 2
Amendment 305 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 21 – paragraph 1 a (new)
Article 21 – paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. The Commission will monitor the secondary markets for slots based on the data received from co-ordinators and will report on relevant trends, including those relating to regional and intra-EU connectivity, in its Annual Analysis of Air Transport Markets.