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Regulatory and public policy issues in Europe

IATA manages regulatory affairs and policy matters on behalf of its airline Members. This requires cooperation with many international regulatory bodies, such as, for Europe, the European Commission and the European Parliament.

Below are a number of important issues for Europe and a summary of IATA's regulatory involvement for each issue:

Slot Allocation Regulation
- Liberalisation of European air transport is a major success; air traffic in Europe has tripled between 1980 and 2000, and is expected to at least double in the next 20 years. As a result the number of congested airports is growing.
- The European Commission sees marked-led solutions as a part of the solution. In the EU, the slot allocation Regulation (EEC) 95/93, based on the IATA system, has been in place since 1993. In a planned revision of the regulation the Commission intends to present a proposal to introduce a commercial slot allocation mechanism or mechanisms.
- Slot allocation is only required where there is insufficient airport capacity to meet demand. It does not increase capacity and is only a mechanism for distributing what is available.

Passenger rights issues: DBC, PRMs, consumer reports, information to passengers on identity of operating carrier:
- Denied-Boarding Compensation (DBC)
  Regulation 261/2004 on compensation to passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights, came into effect on 17 February 2005. It applies to all carriers departing from an EU airport and to EU carriers flying to an EU airport from a third country.
  The regulation introduces extremely high financial compensation for denied-boarding passengers – EUR 750 for flights of less than 3,500 km and EUR 1,500 for flights of more than 3,500 km. Also included are an obligation to call for volunteers, and measures relating to cancellations and long delays.
  IATA challenged the regulation at the European Court of Justice. The Court ruled that the regulation was valid and compatible with the Montreal Convention. A revision of the regulation is foreseen for 2007/2008, possibly extending the scope for compensation to delays. Regulation should be avoided wherever possible, because strong competition among airlines is the best way of providing a quality-for-price service.
  The Commission and the National Enforcement Bodies have recently worked together with arilines on a better implemenation of the Regulation. A full-fledged revision of the regulation will hopefully be avoided.
- Passengers with Reduced Mobility (PRM’s)
  On 9 June 2006, the Council of the European Union adopted new rules aimed at strengthening the rights of disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility when travelling by air, Regulation 1107/2006. Since July 2007, discrimination against PRM’s will be prohibited and airlines will also be prevented from imposing additional charges. As from July 2008, the service provisions of the regulation are coming into force: airports (or their agents) will be responsible for PRMs assistance (except on board).
  This regulation demonstrates a clear lack of international cooperation. IATA pushes regulators towards a more globally harmonised standard.
- Blacklist
  On 5 December 2005, the European Council adopted Regulation (EC) No 2111/2005 with the objectives of establishing a common list of banned air carriers ("the blacklist”) that do not meet relevant safety requirements. Carriers placed on the list are subject to inform their passengers of the identity of operating carriers. The "blacklist" is updated periodically ( http://air-ban.europa.eu/).

Revision of the third package of liberalization
- The air transport sector in the European Union was liberalised in three successive stages. The last stage of the liberalisation was the subject of a third "package" of measures, which applied as from January 1993. This package gradually introduced freedom to provide services within the European Union and led in April 1997 to the freedom to provide cabotage, i.e. the right for an airline of one Member State to operate a route within another Member State.
- On 18 July 2006, the European Commission adopted a proposal for a revision of the “third package”. The proposal addresses the identified shortcomings, and modernizes and simplifies the legal framework of the internal aviation market.
- IATA supports all efforts to continue the successful liberalisation of air transport and welcomes the revision of the third package.

European Commission White Paper on Transport Policy
- In September 2001, the European Commission published the White Paper on Transport Policy, European Transport Policy for 2010: Time to Decide.
- The White paper proposed measures to overhaul the EU’s transport policy in order to make it more sustainable and avoid huge economic losses due to congestion, pollution and accidents. The Commission presented a review of the White Paper on 22 June 2006. The European Airlines welcomed the mid-term review and supported the objective of an EU sustainable transport policy: to allow transport systems to meet society’s economic, social and environmental needs.

Facilitation & security issues: API, PNR, new EU security rules…
- EU-US PNR Agreement
- In July 2007 the Presidency of the EU and the United States signed the "EU-US Agreement on the processing and transfer of passenger name record (PNR) data by air carriers to the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS)". This Agreement replaces the Agreement on the sharing of passenger data of May 2004. It ensures that air carriers operating passenger flights to or from the US process PNR data, contained their automated reservation systems, as agreed between the US Administration and the EU.
- This interim Agreement replaced the Agreement on the sharing of passenger data of May 2004. It ensures that air carriers operating passenger flights to or from the US process PNR data, contained in their automated reservation systems, as required by the US Administration. A new Agreement was needed, since the European Court of Justice annulled the legal basis on which the earlier agreement was based in May 2006.
- EU-PNR system
- On 6 November 2007, the European Commission adopted a proposal for the establishment of an EU-Wide system for the exchange of Passenger Name Records (PNR). This proposal is part of a "fight against terrorism package". In line with the 2007 EU-US PNR agreement, the proposal requires that air carriers make PNR data (for flights to and from the EU) avaiable to national data agencies. This data can then be used for law enforcement and counter terrorism risk assesments.

External relations: liberalisation of airline ownership and control requirements, US-EU Open Skies Agreement, etc.
- After seven years of negotiations the European Union and the United States signed and Air Transport Agreement on 30 April 2007. This Open-Skies agreement allows for partial liberalisation of transatlantic air travel, and it replaces existing bilateral aviation agreements between the US and EU member states.
- IATA welcomed the new US/EU agreement as a step in the right direction creating many new opportunities . IATA hopes that it will be the first step to a wider reform that will let carriers operate like any other business and pursue growth opportunities where they exist.

Environment issues: ETS, noise restrictions
- Climate Change
  Environment is among the 3 top ICAO priorities (together with safety and security) and among the 10 industry priorities identified by IATA.
  In September 2005 the European Commission proposed to integrate aviation in the European Emissions Trading Scheme, capping CO2 emissions. A formal legislative proposal was published in December 2006. IATA is lobbying the EU institutions to make sure that ETS is not an isolated mechanism but is part of IATA's four-pillar strategy, consisting of: technology, infrastructure, operations and economic measures.
- The Balanced Approach
  The EU Directive on the establishment of rules and procedures with regard to the introduction of noise-related operating restrictions at Community airports came into force at the end of March 2002. The Directive is the first attempt to formally implement the concept of a "balanced approach" to noise mitigation as defined by ICAO with IATA's active support.
- Over a period of five years, Member States may progressively ban or limit the use of aircraft that meet Chapter 3 noise standards by a minimal margin of 5dB.

Regulatory and public policy issues in Europe

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