Access to the groundhandling market at Community airports

In adopting the recommendation for second reading by Mr Barry SEAL (PSE, UK), Parliament approved the common position of the Council with a series of amendments and did not follow the lead of the above Member who recommended rejection of the Council text (because of the small number of amendments incorporated by the Council in its common position). The amendments concern the following points: - the Directive should not affect contracts concluded after 13 December 1994 provided that sufficient competition exists in the airport and that the expiry date of the contract is reasonably close; - where the number of groundhandling service suppliers is limited, Parliament proposed an exemption from the selection procedure to allow an airline which accounts for more than 25% of traffic at the airport or, in the case of island airports, more than 25% of the scheduled traffic at the airport either to enter the market at the airport in question or to continue to provide groundhandling services for third parties at this airport; - it also hoped that the provisions of this Directive would not affect the rights and obligations of Member States to ensure protection of workers' rights; - with regard to the Users' Committee, Parliament called for the participation of airport workers' representatives, as well as representative organizations of passengers using the airport, where such organizations exist. It specified, in addition, that the Committee should be headed by an independent person, appointed by the Member State in which the airport is located; - with regard to approval, the criteria therefor must relate to the sound economic and financial situation of the supplier of groundhandling services, sufficient insurance cover, and personnel qualifications; - finally, Parliament called for the information report, accompanied by any proposals for revision of the Directive, to be drawn up by 31 December 2001 and to include a detailed description of the general safety rules in force at airports and of the Member States' regulations concerning approval of groundhandling activities and social protection. �