Air traffic management: freeing europe's airspace. White paper

In adopting the report by Mr Pam CORNELISSEN (PPE, NL) Parliament took note of the Commission's White Paper on air traffic management and called for the establishment of a single, consistent and uniform ATM system throughout Europe which would also incorporate, as far as possible, military flights. Parliament took the view that European airspace must be seen as a common resource and unified and managed as such, regardless of national borders, in order to optimize the use of airspace and satisfy all users on the basis of clear policies on access to it. In view of the international scope of air transport Parliament called on the European Union to promote the harmonization of regulations and standards and establish cooperation schemes with the CEEC and with the Mediterranean countries. In general, access to European airspace should no longer be subject to bilateral agreements between the EU Member States and third countries but must be negotiated by the European Union on behalf of all fifteen Member States. Parliament advocated the establishment of a single European regulatory system. An ATM authority should be responsible for the major policy and regulatory/legislative aspects required to attain the basic goals of the single ATM system. It considered that the Eurocontrol International Convention relating to Cooperation for the Safety of Air Navigation should be revised to allow a new coordinating body to be set up to replace Eurocontrol. �