Access to the groundhandling market at Community airports

The amended Commission proposal incorporates those EP amendments which bolster the social aspects of the directive, enable a better understanding to be gained of the scope for limitation concerning the number of users who may practice air-side self-handling, and alter the date for transposition of the Directive. The Commission also partially accepted the amendments seeking to: - clarify the process for setting up the users' committee; - include aircraft cleaning and air-side passenger, baggage and freight transport services among the categories whose numbers may be subject to limitation; - extend to the operational management of centralized infrastructures the right of Member States to confer the management of their structures solely on the airport or another entity; - enable air-side self-handling to be banned under the exemptions; - enable the management body to be informed of decisions taken by Member States regarding approval; - strengthen the obligation to obey the national safety and labour law rules; - strengthen the obligation to comply with existing social regulations at both national and Community level; - extend the scope of the transparency principle to all involved in providing assistance to third parties. �