Europe must remain competitive, affirm top policymakers.
The Belgian EU Presidency organised an Aviation Summit in Bruges, Belgium on October 26th-27th, to address the key issues facing the aviation industry. The results are summarised in a ‘Declaration of Bruges’, accessible on the website of the Presidency.
The Summit dealt with topics as diverse as safety, security, infrastructure and the environment. But re-establishing European competitiveness was the predominant theme that permeated throughout the event.
“This was an important initiative of the EU Presidency” commented Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus, Secretary General of the Association of European Airlines, who was a participant in the Summit along with other industry leaders and decision-makers. He applauded the Belgian Presidency for identifying the erosion of European competitiveness as a matter of fundamental concern, and in doing so had found support from all sides – airlines, airports, manufacturers, unions and other EU bodies for its proposed action plan.
Steve Ridgway, CEO of Virgin Atlantic and next year’s Chairman of AEA said: “Europe’s politicians are waking up to the importance of aviation for their citizens, for their economies. And not before time; while Europe’s air transport sector is beset by burdensome regulation and 20th-century infrastructure, the rest of the world is racing ahead, carrying passengers and cargo that could be flying European”.
A key priority for the participants was the need to improve European airspace management procedures. This was made clear also in the opening address of Vice-President Kallas, EU Commissioner for Transport, who expressed his disappointment at the ongoing resistance towards the realisation of the Single European Sky (SES) programme.
“European airlines are paying three billion Euro unnecessarily for an inefficient air traffic management system,” said Mr Schulte-Strathaus. “The absence of a Single Sky is anti-European, anti-consumer and also anti-environment, because flying indirect routings creates 16 million tonnes of avoidable CO2 emissions. After the mismanagement of the Gulf ash crisis, the least we expect is that efforts are now focused on accelerating the creation of a Single Sky for Europe. We have no understanding at all for Member States who seek to water down and slow down efficiency gains. We are also concerned that SES is not listed by the Commission in its top innovation projects when we consider the broad economical and environmental impact it represents. Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme mentioned in his speech, that the European aviation and air industry needed ambitious, multidimensional projects (like Airbus or Galileo in the past) and that SES could meet the criteria. “
The AEA Secretary General commended the ICAO Secretary General Raymond Benjamin for his leadership in ensuring that ICAO, the UN body for aviation, will continue to be involved in the development of a global cap and trade scheme for CO2 emissions.
“The EU Emissions Trading scheme (ETS) is a regional approach to a global issue” said Mr Schulte-Strathaus, “and therefore by definition distorts the market. Instead of disadvantaging European airlines, we must strive for a global consensus. The current project set up does not recognize the aviation’s global characteristics and will only result in a weakening of the European economy with no relevant impact on the environment”
The Summit Declaration calls upon a group of experts to identify the impact of the EU emissions trading scheme and stipulates that further taxes on aviation will have the adverse effect of stifling the sector’s ability to compete against non-European competitors and invest into innovative technology.
“We are keen to contribute to such a working group which will hopefully promote a better understanding with the Council of EU Transport Ministers of the consequences of taxes, and of the EU ETS, on European competitiveness. All European airlines are convinced that imposing further taxes will not secure employment, economic prosperity, nor will it contain emissions, but only displace them”, agreed Bernard Gustin, Co-CEO of Brussels Airlines, also a panellist at the Summit. “A same level playing field is the prerequisite for a sustainable and competitive European aviation industry and therefore for a strong European economy. We will fully support the action plan the Presidency will outline to the Council of Ministers in December. Because it is balanced, underlines the common interests of all stakeholders and will, if implemented rapidly, secure Europe’s leading role in the world.”
