Activites

• 2005/12/27 Final act published in Official Journal
  • Regulation 2005/2111
  • OJ L 344 27.12.2005, p. 0015-0022
• 2005/12/14 Final act signed
• 2005/12/14 End of procedure in Parliament
• 2005/12/05 Act adopted by Council after Parliament's 1st reading
• 2005/11/16 Results of vote in Parliament
  • Results of vote in Parliament
  • T6-0428/2005 summary

    The European Parliament adopted a resolution drafted by Christine DE VEYRAC (EPP-ED, FR) and made several amendments to the proposal. The report was adopted with 577 votes in favour 16 against with 31 abstentions. Parliament backed its committee (please see the summary of 11/10/2005) and was in favour of the introduction of an EU-wide blacklist of airlines that do not meet safety requirements. Airlines that fail to comply will be subject to an operating ban throughout the EU. Also, passenger rights are to be strengthened by informing them of the identity of the operating carrier. Passengers will also have a right to compensation should the carrier be included on the blacklist after the reservation has been made. The Council agreed Parliaments amendments.The common blacklist will be drawn up as follows:-Each Member State should, within one month after the entry into force of the Regulation, communicate to the Commission the identity of the air carriers that are subject to an operating ban in its territory. The Commission informs the other Member States on these operating bans.-Within one month after having received the information the Commission should, on the basis of common criteria, establish the blacklist.  Air carriers concerned should be given the opportunity of being heard, if necessary using an urgency procedure.-Air carriers are included on the blacklist if there is verified evidence of serious safety deficiencies, if there is a lack of ability and/or willingness to address safety deficiencies or if there is a lack of ability and/or willingness of the authorities responsible for the oversight of an air carrier to address safety deficiencies, to enforce the relevant safety standards or to oversee the aircraft. -An air carrier which is subject to an operating ban could be permitted to exercise traffic rights by using wet-leased aircraft of an air carrier which is not subject to an operating ban, provided that the relevant safety standards are complied with.-At least every three months, the Commission should verify whether it is appropriate to update the Community list, either to include a new carrier or to remove air carrier if the safety deficiency has been remedied. In order to efficiently update the list, the Member States and the European Aviation Safety Agency should communicate to the Commission all relevant information.-The list will be published on the Internet and in the Official Journal. Also, air carriage contractors, national civil aviation authorities, the European Aviation Safety Agency and airports should bring the list to the attention of passengers, both via their websites and, where relevant, in their premises. -The common blacklist does not preclude a Member State from reacting to an unforeseen safety problem by introducing an immediate operating ban in respect of its own territory. Member States may also impose an operating ban on an air carrier, not included on the list, "in view of a safety problem specifically affecting that Member State".Parliament also strengthened information rights of passengers:-The air carriage contractor selling the ticket has to inform the passenger of the identity of the operating air carrier or carriers, whatever the means used to make the reservation. -Where the identity of the operating air carrier is not yet known at the time of reservation, the air carriage contractor should ensure that the passenger is informed as soon as such identity is established. --Wherever the operating air carrier is changed after reservation, passengers must be informed at check-in, or at the time of boarding at the latest. -The air carrier or the tour operator, as the case may be, shall ensure that the relevant air carriage contractor is informed of the identity of the operating air carrier or carriers as soon as this is known, in particular in case of a change of such identity. If a ticket seller has not been informed of the identity of the operating air carrier, it shall not be responsible for not having complied with its obligations under the legislation. -Parliament decided that passengers shall have the right to reimbursement or re-routing if the air carrier is included on the blacklist after the reservation has been made and the flight has therefore been cancelled. Parliament, Council and Commission agreed on a compromise beforehand, so that the Council will accept Parliament's first reading without amending it.  The regulation will enter into force 20 days after publication in the Official Journal, probably beginning of 2006.

• 2005/11/15 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament
• 2005/10/19 Committee report tabled for plenary, 1st reading/single reading
  • A6-0310/2005
• 2005/10/11 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
• #2654
• 2005/04/21 Council Meeting
  • 2654 summary

    Pending the first reading in the European Parliament, the Council unanimously adopted a partial general approach on the proposal for a Regulation on the information of air transport passengers on the identity of the operating carrier and on communication of safety information by Member States.In the aftermath of the tragic air crash at Sharm-el-Sheikh on 3 January 2004, the Commission presented this proposal for a Regulation on 16 February 2005. The proposal aims at providing better information to air passengers on air carriers which for safety reasons have been refused permission to operate in one or more Member States, as well as on the identity of the air carriers operating the flights on which these passengers travel.On the basis of the text of the Regulation as amended by the Council, passengers would be better informed than at present, in particular owing to:• the publication by the Commission of a "black list" of all air carriers in respect of which Member States have, for safety reasons, refused permission to operate passenger services to their airports or to fly in their airspace. This list will reproduce, verbatim, the various national lists, mentioning the Member States in which the respective bans are in force.• the obligation imposed on the contracting air carrier to ensure that the passenger is informed of the identity of the operating air carrier(s) when making a reservation. If the identity is not known at the time of reservation, the contracting air carrier must inform passengers of the air carriers which will probably operate the flight(s) concerned under its authority. In the latter case, the contracting air carrier must also inform passengers of the identity of the operating air carrier(s) as soon as such identity is established. The contracting air carrier must also ensure that the passenger is informed of any change in the operating air carrier and in any case the passenger must be informed, at the latest, at check-in. These rules will apply when:(a) the departure of the flight is from an airport in the territory of a Member State to which the Treaty applies, or(b) the departure of the flight is from an airport located in a third country to an airport situated in the territory of a Member State to which the Treaty applies, if the contracting air carrier of the flight is a Community carrier; or(c) the departure of the flight is from an airport located in a third country, if the flight is part of a contract of carriage that has been concluded in the Community and the carriage started in the Community.

• 2005/04/12 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• 2005/02/16 Legislative proposal published
  • COM(2005)0048 summary

    PURPOSE: to grant each air passenger the right to be informed of the identity of the operating carrier. LEGISLATIVE ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council. CONTENT: This proposed Regulation establishes rules to ensure that air passengers are informed about the identity of the air carrier operating the flights on which they travel and establishes an obligation of exchange of safety information between Member States. It would apply to the provision of air transport services when the departure of the flight is from an airport in the territory of a Member State to which the Treaty applies or from an airport located in a third country, if the flight is part of a journey which started in the Community, provided the contracting carrier has an establishment in the Community. It would apply regardless of whether the flight is scheduled or nonscheduled, and regardless of whether the flight is part of a package or not. It shall not affect the rights of passengers under Directive 90/314/EEC and Regulation 2299/89/EEC on a code of conduct for computer reservation systems. Member States shall publish a list of all air carriers which are banned from its airspace or which are subjected to traffic rights restrictions for safety reasons. This list shall be made available to all the Member States and to the Commission.  The Commission shall publish a consolidated list of these air carriers and take the appropriate measures to facilitate this exchange of information. The contracting carrier shall inform the passenger of the identity of the operating air carrier or carriers upon reservation and immediately notify the passenger if the operating carrier or carriers is changed after reservation irrespective of the reason of the change. In due course, the Commission intends to make proposals to reinforce the current system of the safety inspections based on the Safety Assessment of Foreign Aircraft (SAFA) Directive 2004/36/EC. The Commission is currently examining how best to introduce changes in the most efficient way by making use of the possibilities offered by implementing measures affecting the content of the procedures annexed to the “SAFA” Directive. Other, more far reaching measures, possibly through a modification of the Directive, could be to introduce and alert system ensuring that important safety issues are drawn to the attention of all the Member States inspectors and to issue a set of detailed procedures to be followed.  Such a move would help improving the quality and standardisation of the data, enable a better analysis of the available information and allow an easier detection of problem areas. Also, modification proposals would take into account of international initiatives such as the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA), which consists in providing a standardised audit programme based on internationally recognised standards and a structured system for the sharing of audit related information.

  • DG ['Energy and Transport'],

Documents

• Legislative proposal published: COM(2005)0048
• Debate in Council: 2654
• Committee report tabled for plenary, 1st reading/single reading: A6-0310/2005
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Results of vote in Parliament: Results of vote in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T6-0428/2005
• : Regulation 2005/2111
• : OJ L 344 27.12.2005, p. 0015-0022

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)