9 Civil aviation
| (a)
(32594)
7660/11
COM(11) 106
(b)
(32596)
7662/11
COM(11) 107
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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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| Department | Transport
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| Basis of consideration | Minister's letter of 28 March 2011
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| Previous Committee Report | HC 428-xxi (2010-11), chapter 3 (23 March 2011)
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| To be discussed in Council | (a) 31 March 2011 Transport Council
(b) Not known
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| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | Cleared
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Background
9.1 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.
9.2 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.
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).
9.3 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.
9.4 When we considered this matter, earlier this
month, we heard that:
- the Commission's explanatory
memorandum stated that the Memorandum of Cooperation covered issues
where the EU has competence and where relations with ICAO need
to be maintained at the EU level;
- the Government accepted that aviation safety,
security, environmental protection and air traffic management
contain elements where EU competence had been established;
- nonetheless it was 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 an international body
constitutionally made up of sovereign states; and
- this was an important point of principle of concern
to the Government.
We heard further that:
- the Government accepted that
there were areas of aviation policy where enhanced cooperation
between the EU and ICAO could bring benefits;
- it believed, however, that the important principle,
preservation of the position of Member States at the ICAO, was
at stake;
- it considered 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 considered that this aim would
be detrimental to EU interests at the ICAO and to the interests
of individual Member States;
- it did 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), gave complete reassurance that the agreement
implied 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 proposed to abstain from supporting
the draft Decisions when they were discussed at the Transport
Council, on 31 March 2011.
9.5 We said that:
- although we could see the utility
of the Memorandum of Cooperation, we noted the important subsidiarity
issue raised by the Minister and the Government's intention to
abstain from support for the draft Decisions;
- given, however, the subsidiarity point, we did
not understand why the Government did not intend to vote against
the proposals;
- we wanted an explanation of this intention; and
- meanwhile the documents would remain under scrutiny.[40]
The Minister's letter
9.6 The Minister of State, Department for Transport
(Mrs Theresa Villiers), writes now to say that:
- the main reason for proposing
to abstain, rather than voting against the proposals, is that
the Government recognises that not all of the content of the Memorandum
of Cooperation is problematic;
- there are elements in the proposals, for example
in the sphere of international air safety, which will benefit
the aviation community worldwide;
- the Government also recognises that the Commission
was given a mandate to seek this agreement in 2009 and accepts
that there is general support for the proposals amongst other
Member States;
- its reservations are with regard to the end result
which the proposals might lead to;
- it remains of the view that it is necessary to
put down a marker that the UK is concerned about the principle
of Member State sovereignty in international organisations and
cautious about any proposals which appear to enhance the role
of the EU at the expense of Member States;
- its feeling is that, in the long term, such proposals
could eventually change the distribution of competences between
the EU and the Member States; and
- it considers that an abstention by the UK will
be a stronger way of conveying this message than, for example,
a vote in favour accompanied by a statement of its concerns.
Conclusion
9.7 We are grateful to the Minister for her prompt
response to our question about the Government's voting intentions.
We note the case for abstention, rather than a vote against the
proposals, and, whilst we are not wholly convinced by it, accept
that the argument is finely balanced. So we now clear the documents.
40 See headnote. Back
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