Uppdatering i några aktuella EU-frågor

Här följer lite uppföljning från ERA om aktuella EU-frågor med en del personliga reflektioner.

Nick Mower, General Manger Regulatory Affairs, reports on the ERA Directorate's latest work on behalf of its members and reviews the EC's proposals and guidelines on aviation

ERA takes action on state aid
The European Commission announced in 2011 that it would review and update its Guidelines on State Aid to airports. The Commission was expected to come forward with a proposal before the end of 2012 (after this issue of Regional International goes to press). Following discussion at the September 2012 ERA lndustry Affairs Group, the Directorate wrote to the European Commission and Parliament expressing its hopes in any revision.

ERA's main policy message is that:

• the existing rules on state aid need to be more rigorously implemented and enforced;
• a more streamlined and expeditious complaint handling and investigation process is needed and
• the existing compliance threshold (5m annual passengers) for the EU Airport Charges Directive means that at many European airports there is no obligation on them to provide airline operators with the necessary financial transparency to see if the state aid guidelines are being complied with. Aside from the rules applicable to competition with in the airports sector, the EC should also ensure a fair competitive environment exists both within and between modes.

Concerns over transition plans for LAGs
The ERA Directorate recently lead a small delegation to Marjeta Jager, director for security at DGMOVE, to raise concerns regarding the proposed transition plans for the screening of Liquids, Aerosols and Gels (LAGs).
Accompanied by representatives from ELFAA and lACA, Jager was asked to ensure cost benefit analyses were completed for small and medium airports before requiring expensive screening equipment is mandated. Some assurances were given that possible exemptions from the sole u se of technological solutions by alternate testing procedures, dependent on airport passenger numbers, are being considered by the EC and member states.

AsaG meets in Frankfurt
Lufthansa Consulting hosted the autumn ERA Air Safety advisory Group (AsaG) in Frankfurt in late November. Tzvetomir Blajev, coordinator operational safety for Eurocontrol, presented on the agency's safety initiatives, including runway excursions and ATM incident reporting. The group also discussed the progress towards the publication of next year's ERA 'SMS' guide, tailored for regional operations, and plans for a safety seminar. As always, the most important session focused on the confidential 'Safety Information Discussions' where early lessons learned from incidents and accidents promoted discussion. Cabin and ground incidents are planned for a future session.

ERA attends EASA's SAFA Regulators and lndustry Forum
ERA members were represented by Paul Hilbert (Luxair) and Patrick Tobin (CityJet) at the recent EASA presentations which dealt with ramp inspection statistics (number of inspections, audits, etc). Information was provided by EASA concerning the new regulation for operations (EU Commission Regulation No 965/2012) and its influence on the SAFA programme. The main issue is related to the fact that there is a two-year time frame for EASA member states to apply the regulation, and it is recognized that not all these states will apply the regulation at the same time during that time frame. EASA has decided that during SAFA Ramp lnspections, in this two-year period, all operators will continue to be checked against ICAO standards until 31 October 2014. From 1 November 2014, all EASA operators will then be checked against Commission Regulation (EU) No 965/2012, while third country operators (TCOs) will continue to be checked against ICAO standards.

• IATA's presentation included an example of an incorrect SAFA finding on a (fully booked) US registered B747 at CDG which resulted in a Iong delay. 
• IACA focused on the number of findings versus inspections and number of findings versus inspected items. lt also highlighted the rather high proportion of inspections on EASA aircraft/operators.
• The key argument of the operators and Boeing was that the SAFA programme is not intended to 'maintain' aircraft. 
• EASA stressed the need to obtain manufacturer data (such as AMMs) in order for the SAFA inspectors to be better 'equipped' to assess dents as well as issues with fasteners. However, there are various reasons as to why the availability of such data is limited, including:
• legal issues
• different manufacturer concepts on what data is suitable
• industry reluctance to provide the data as it is seen that the use of such data could lead to more delays and cancellations caused by misinterpretations of AMM contents and incorrect assessments by the inspectors.

In summary, a majority of points raised in an ERA letter sent to EASA prior to the forum were covered in the presentations from IATA/ IACA and Boeing. While ERA members' most important concerns were emphasized during the meeting (ie, a more reasonable approach, a higher degree of 'common sense', more rights to contest findings, better responses from the respective NAAs etc.) there were no direct answers to them. However, the Italian (ENAC) national SAFA coordinator has confirmed that ENAC SAFA inspectors have been instructed, for the moment, not to check on the Italian language requirement for code share flights because the issue remains legally unclear.

ERA submit paper on SAFA
ERA members are concerned at the groundings of aircraft resulting from a Safety Assessment of Foreign Aircraft (SAFA) finding. A number of members have experienced the operational disruption and subsequent expense caused by a SAFA finding that has resulted in a decision to ground an aircraft, only to subsequently learn that after further investigation, the basis on which the grounding decision was made was flawed.
ERA is requesting that EASA considers that any that any drastic decisions to ground an aircraft should not be made solely by one SAFA inspector but should be done in collaboration or after consultation with a senior inspector/CAA manager. This would ensure that any grounding decision was based on sound corroborative information.

Air passenger rights ECJ ruling on Iong delays
In late October the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled on a case referred to it by the UK on whether it is valid for operators to pay compensation to passengers who are subject to arrival delays in excess of three hours. In keeping with its 2009 ruling the Court has reaffirmed that compensation should be paid. The ERA Directorate continues to strongly believe that EU Regulation 261/2004 never envisaged compensation should be paid to passengers who are subject to Iong delays and that the view of the Court is questionable. The ruling by the Court is unsurprising in that it reconfirms the 2009 ruling and the initial view of the court in this case in May 2012. In effect, the Court seems to be granting new rights to passengers that were never envisaged in the original legislation, whereas the democratic law making process dictates the European Parliament and Council to develop law.
The ruling comes at an important time in that the European Commission is Iikely to propose a revision to EU 261/2004 before the end of 2012 or in early 2013.

The ERA Directorate is continuing a strong lobbying campaign in the upcoming revision to EU 261/2004. The basis for this lobbying is the work that has been carried out by ERA's lndustry Affairs Group that calls for a radical reform of the regulation to better balance the rights of passengers with those of operators.

JB: Kallas uttrycker stor besvikelse över att airport pacage är "loss of face" där inget händer just nu. Han har ännu inte öppnat någon diskussion om en mer flygbolagsvänlig inriktning. Möjligen känner han att det finns andra krafter som drar åt annat håll och i stället vill skärpa reglerna vilket nu framgår av kommissionens liggande förslag. Någon MP sa att 2013 kan komma att bli ett värre år för flygbolagen!!
Bland förslagen kan nämnas att:
– vid en resa med genomgångsbiljett (alla leggar i samma dokument oavsett vem som flyger) så kan den som flyger leg 2 vara skyldig till sk. care-cost om operatören på 1:a leggen är sen och det uppstår en rerouting till annan flygning. Detta kan bli kännbart för små operatörer som interlinar med större bolag.
– vid försenad ankomst till resmålet mer än fem timmar likställs detta med inställd resa.
+ vid resor kortare än 250 km och med flygplan med 75 eller färre stolar ska få vissa undantag, accommodation (gäller ej för PRM och ensamåkande barn).
+ vid krav på övernattning begränsa flygbolagens skyldighet till hotell med max 100€ per natt och passagerare samt max i tre nätter.
– intensiva diskussioner om extraordinära omständigheter kommer nog att leda till ett urvattnat förslag. Parlamentet kommer att motsätta sig en lista som kan friskriva flygbolagen från ansvar.

Kallas verkar ha ett stort behov att leverera något innan hans mandatperiod går ut 2014 men han möter motstånd i parlamentet som inte vill se försämringar i passagerarnas generösa villkor.

Proposed moratorium on EU ETS for international flights
The European Commissioner for Climate Action, Connie Hedegaard, announced a 12-month moratorium on the implementation of the EU ETS scheme applicable to all f lights from and to non-EU countries departing from or landing in Europe in mid-November. This means that the EU will not impose the monitoring and reporting obligations and will not require allowances to be surrendered in April 2013 for emissions from flights originating from or departing to non-EU countries. However, the scheme will remain fully implemented for intra-EU flights. The suspension of the EU ETS will need to be formalised and adopted through ordinary legislative procedure (co-decision) with the support of both the Council and European Parliament. The alleged rationale for this move is to create a 'positive atmosphere' and to allow ICAO enough time to progress with ongoing discussions for a credible global market based mechanism (MBM) by the next ICAO Assembly in September 2013. The European Commission has stated very clearly that, in case no substantial results are reached by ICAO by next autumn, the EU ETS legislation would automatically revert back to applying to all flights. ERA's position has consistently been that a suspension of the scheme until ICAO has been able to find a solution is a positive step but the proposed intra-EU only scheme remains unacceptable. In a joint ERA-IACA press release the Directorate pointed out that by implementing a two-tier scheme where intra EU operators are still obliged to fully implement the law, the European Commission will continue to impose east and complexity on intra-EU operations with little or no overall environmental benefit. Ultimately, both ERA and IACA called on the EU Member States and the Parliament to extend the moratorium to all flights.

JB: Man kan ha förståelse för att ERA och IACA vill ha ett stopp som täcker allt flyg. Även om man inte behöver betala för utsläppsrätter utanför EUs luftrum så finns det fortfarande ett inslag av snedvriden konkurrens mellan vissa EU-bolag och icke EU-bolag. Detta märks tydligt för de bolag som har sin interconttrafik styrd över stora hubbar inom EU.
Notera att 80% av utsläppen inom EU kommer från icke-europeiska flygbolag.
Kommer ICAO att kunna presentera ett förslag som alla nationer kommer stå bakom i september? Troligen inte, bedömare menar att det kommer ta minst tre år innan ett internationellt avtal kan finnas på plats.
Det går en del rykten som säger att man kan tänka sig att mindre utsläppsländer får lägre krav? Att man föreslår ett annat system än den modell med utsläppsrätter som EU tillämpar! Vad händer med redan inköpta rätter? Vad händer inom EU om ICAO inte kan enas om ett förslag?

I december kom en rapport från kommissionen om State of the Europian Carbon Market in 2012, där man konstaterar att det finns ett överutbud på ca 955 miljoner utsläppsrätter (EUR) i förhållande till efterfrågan. Överutbudet får till effekt att marknadspriset på EUR är för lågt, 4-5€. Därför diskuteras förslag om att ändra på auktioneringstiden för att få upp priset. Genom en diskretionär prissättningsmekanism försöka att påverka lägstapris eller genom någon slags automatik överföra utsläppsrätter till en reserv för att minska utbudet. Man vill också begränsa möjligheten att kompensera med investeringar i internationella projekt.
Det är just det här som vi från SFB har varnat för, att myndigheterna går in och ändrar reglerna då marknaden inte reagerar som förväntat. För att nå målen enligt vitboken överväger man nu att höja målen för utsläppsminskning till 30% år 2020. RÄKNA MED KRAFTIGA ÅTGÄRDER FÖR ATT HÖJA PRISET PÅ EUR I EN SNAR FRAMTID!

Airport package
On 12th December the plenary session of the European Parliament voted the so called "Airports Package" proposal on slot allocation, noise-related operating restrictions and ground-handling services at EU airports. On 6 November, the Transport and Tourism Committee of the European Parliament had already voted on the three files of the Airport Package.

Slots
The plenary session of the European Parliament (EP) adopted and finalised its first reading on the proposal for Regulation on allocation of slots at European Union airports in December 2012. The plenary confirmed the vote expressed by the Transport and Tourism Committee vote in November on the most important issues.
The position of the Parliament is in line with industry expectations on the most sensitive points and it is also compatible (though not fully identical) with the 'general approach' of the Council which was adopted in agreement with all EU member states except the UK.
The vast majority of the amendments supported by the industry have been adopted by the Parliament:

• grandfather rule has been confirmed on the basis of the 80-20 utilisation ratio; 
• definition of slots series: minimum five non-consecutive; however, this can be prolonged through local rules; 
• local rules: can only be adopted if agreed and voted in the coordination committee; 
• re-timing: allows improvement of the schedules of new entrants; 
• network airport: references deleted and information to be provided by airport, not by carriers; 
• reservation fee: article 11 on slot reservation deleted but some of its content is now included in the provision on sanctions;
• secondary trading: the EP accepts the principle of secondary trading but grants member states the right to allocate part of the revenue to infrastructure improvements; and 
• new entrants: no discrimination of non-EU carriers;

Other points are still quite controversial and will need further lobbying to improve, including: 

• the EP has introduced the concept of slots as a 'non-material asset of public utility; 
• although the concept of 'network airport' has been deleted, the EP is seeking to establish a data exchange system; 
• the rejection of the concept of reservation fees should be clearer; 
• there should be no obligation to earmark revenues from secondary trading; and 
• sanctions should only be applied if a carrier intentionally misbehaves.

JB: Glädjande att ett visst mått av sunt förnuft fortfarande finns I Europa och att de för operatörerna negativa förändringar Sverige stöttade, förhoppningsvis nu inte införs.

On ground-handling, the plenary assembly referred the whole Commission's proposal back to the Transport Committee of the European Parliament for a second reading.
On noise the outcome of the vote implies only minor changes to the status quo and thus does not cause major concerns for the airlines.
The legislative texts on noise and slots are now transmitted to the Council for adoption of a Common Position that will need to be approved or amended by the Parliament at second reading, whilst the future of the ground-handling proposal will depend on the outcome of the discussions within the Transport and Tourism Committee that had already rejected the draft text in November.

JB: Vi har ännu inte sett Sveriges officiella ställning i dessa frågor. Men som jag förstår av samtal med några medlemmar har dessa frågor inte så stor påverkan för oss i Sverige.

ERA Board member chair of ICB
ERA Board member, Olaf Dlugi, has been elected as the new Chairman of the lndustry Consultation Body (ICB). The ICB is a formal industry body, mandated by the EC, to provide advice to the Commission on the implementation of the Single European Sky. Olaf replaces Per Arne Watle (a former ERA Board member).

JB: Glädjande att Olaf får ta över denna uppgift. Olaf är väl känd och ansedd bland ERA medlemmar. Som tidigare nämnts finns det all anledning för branschen att ställa högre krav på snabbare implementering av SES.

Workshop om att skapa affärer med FN
Som en fortsättning på den workshop vi genomförde med SWEUNB och FN i höstas anordnar nu Syntell en workshop om hur man går vidare. Syftet med denna workshop är att visa vilken potential det finns i FNs upphandlingssystem, vilka uppdrag inom luftfart som tidigare upphandlats samtidigt som man vill visa på vilka krav och frågor som kan dyka upp i samband med en registrering till FNs upphandlingssystem.

Workshopen är planerad att hållas den 7 maj i SFB lokaler på Storgatan 19, Stockholm.
Anmäl ert intresse att delat till Nils Schroeter, Syntell, Nils.Schroeter@syntell.se

Agenda bifogas

Tack för den här gången vi hörs snart igen…..

Janne o Anki
2013-02-13