In a wide-ranging discussion with ERA in Brussels, European Commission Vice President Jacques Barrot has committed Europe`s air transport law-makers…
In a wide-ranging discussion with ERA in Brussels, European Commission Vice President Jacques Barrot has committed Europe`s air transport law-makers to producing impact assessments for all future proposed regulations. He is also prepared to examine ERA proposals for a European Transport Safety Board.
The results of the French and Dutch referenda show that there is even more need for the European Union to achieve better standards of regulation and greater transparency. This commitment from the Commission is a positive step towards a coherent regulatory framework for European air transport, said ERA Director General, Mike Ambrose.
ERA has been calling for the impact assessment commitment as part of its drive for better regulation, enshrined in the association`s Vision for European Air Transport policy paper. The ERA delegation to Brussels asked the Commission to focus on `smart regulation` that would be performance-based, non-prescriptive and developed with stakeholders.
ERA President Antonis Simigdalas of Aegean Airlines and Director General Mike Ambrose stressed to the Commissioner that the air transport industry is experiencing difficult times and cannot afford poor regulation.
The association sees a requirement for broad management of safety issues across all transport modes and therefore suggested a European equivalent to the US Transportation Safety Board. M Barrot invited the delegation to put forward proposals to the Commission.
This paper will be the second produced following the meeting, the first being a paper on alternatives to the proposed Poverty Tax, which the Commission requested urgently.
The ERA delegation was formed of ERA President Antonis Simigdalas, Vice-President Elfrieke van Galen, Board Member Jacques Bankir and Director General Mike Ambrose. The Commission Vice President was accompanied by Daniel Calleja (Director of Air Transport) and Francis Morgan (the air transport specialist in Mr Barrot`s cabinet).
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