3 Civil aviation
| (a)
(32594)
7660/11
COM(11) 106
(b)
(32596)
7662/11
COM(11) 107
|
Draft Council Decision on the signature and provisional application of a Memorandum of Cooperation between the European Union and the International Civil Aviation Organisation
Draft Council Decision on the conclusion of a Memorandum of Cooperation between the European Union and the International Civil Aviation Organisation
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| Legal base | (a) Articles 100(2) and 218 (5) TFEU; —; QMV
(b) Articles 100(2) and 218 (6) TFEU; consent; QMV
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| Documents originated | 10 March 2011
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| Deposited in Parliament | 16 March 2011
|
| Department | Transport
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| Basis of consideration | EM of 21 March 2011
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| Previous Committee Report | None
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| To be discussed in Council | (a) 31 March 2011
(b) Not known
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| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | Not cleared; further information requested
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Background
3.1 The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO),
a UN Specialised Agency, is tasked with achieving the safe, secure
and sustainable development of civil aviation through cooperation
amongst its 190 member states. The ICAO's chief means of pursuing
its goals is through the development of standards in such areas
as safety, security, environment and air traffic management. These
ICAO standards form the basis for EU aviation legislation and
some standards, such as environmental standards for aircraft,
are taken into EU law without amendment. The Commission therefore
regards it as essential to engage closely in the work of ICAO
in order to contribute to sound global aviation policies and to
protect EU interests.
3.2 In December 2009 the Council gave the Commission
a mandate to negotiate a Memorandum of Cooperation between the
EU and the ICAO. The negotiations were carried through during
the course of 2010 and the Memorandum of Cooperation was initialled
on 27 September 2010 during the opening of the 37th ICAO
Assembly.
The documents
3.3 These documents are a Council Decision to formally approve
signature of the Memorandum of Cooperation and make it provisionally
applicable, triggering the creation of a joint committee, document
(a), and one to conclude it, document (b).
3.4 The Memorandum of Cooperation is intended to be a framework
for an enhanced cooperation between the EU and ICAO in the key
areas of aviation safety, aviation security, air traffic management
and environmental protection. Each of these areas will form a
specific annex to the Memorandum. So far only the safety annex
has been agreed. The others will be adopted progressively by the
joint committee.
The Government's view
3.5 The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Mrs Theresa
Villiers), first commenting on subsidiarity, says that:
- the Commission's explanatory memorandum states that the Memorandum
of Cooperation covers issues where the EU has competence and where
relations with ICAO need to be maintained at the EU level;
- the Government accepts that aviation safety, security, environmental
protection and air traffic management contain elements where EU
competence has been established;
- nonetheless it is clear that the Memorandum would expand the
role of the Commission at the ICAO to a considerable degree and
could therefore be viewed as a step towards the Commission supplanting
the role of Member States in what is an international body constitutionally
made up of sovereign states; and
- this is an important point of principle which is a concern
to the Government.
3.6 The Minister comments further that:
- the Government accepts that there are areas of aviation policy
where enhanced cooperation between the EU and ICAO could bring
benefits;
- it believes, however, that the important principle, preservation
of the position of Member States at the ICAO, is at stake;
- it considers that an effect of this agreement could be to
undermine that position, which could eventually lead to the Commission
securing overall competence in ICAO matters through full membership
of the organisation;
- the Government considers that this aim would be detrimental
to EU interests at the ICAO and to the interests of individual
Member States;
- it does not consider that the statements made by the Commission
during the negotiations on the mandate, that the proposal was
not intended to affect relations between individual Member States
and ICAO nor to affect the arrangements for preparing EU positions
for meetings of the ICAO Council (repeated in paragraph 2 of the
Memorandum), give complete reassurance that the agreement implies
no significant transfer of influence between Member States and
the Commission at the ICAO; and
- on the basis of this assessment of the potential impact of
the Memorandum of Cooperation on the position of Member States
at the ICAO the Government proposes to abstain from supporting
the draft Decisions when they are discussed at Transport Council.
3.7 Turning to the financial implications of the proposals
the Minister says that:
- support for this cooperation, of €500,000 (£426,000)
per year for an initial period of three years is envisaged
within the framework of the Financial and Administrative Framework
Agreement between the EU and the United Nations;
- the Commission's explanatory memorandum leaves open the possibility
that this budget could be complemented by financial support from
Member States or the European Aviation Safety Agency; but
- there are no financial commitments imposed on the UK.
3.8 Finally, the Minister, noting that the Hungarian Presidency
intends to seek adoption of the draft Decision on the signature
and provisional application of the Memorandum of Cooperation,
document (a), at the Transport Council on 31 March 2011, says
that it will then, in April 2011, continue work on the Council
Decision on the Memorandum's conclusion, document (b). She comments
that this will allow time for in-depth discussion of the inclusion
of more detailed rules as regards the procedure to follow concerning
the EU position to be taken in the joint committee.
Conclusion
3.9 Although we can see the utility of the Memorandum of
Cooperation, we note the important subsidiarity issue raised by
the Minister and the Government's intention to abstain from support
for the draft Decisions. However, given the subsidiarity point,
we do not understand why the Government does not intend to vote
against the proposals — we should be grateful for an explanation
of this intention. Meanwhile the documents remain under scrutiny.
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