Transport MEPs back deal on noise-related operating restrictions at EU
11 Apr 2014 04:09 PM
Noise-related operating
restrictions at EU airports would continue to be set by regional and national
authorities, but people living nearby should be better informed and
noise-related health problems should be given more consideration, thanks to a
deal between Parliament and the Council of Ministers endorsed by the Transport
and Tourism Committee on Thursday. Parliament as a whole will now vote on the
deal at the April plenary session.
Under the new rules governing
decision-making on aircraft noise abatement measures, which would bring EU law
into line with International Civil Aviation Organisation principles, national
and regional authorities would continue to have the final say in setting
noise-related operating restrictions at EU airports.
“The European Commission
does not have the right to block or change anything – it is the solution
we wanted”, said rapporteur Jörg Leichtfried (S&D, AT), echoing
most Transport Committee MEPs’ concerns that increasing the
Commission's right of scrutiny could have undermined regional mediation
agreements between airports, regions and citizens, many of which are reached
only after lengthy negotiations.
If the process by which these
operating restrictions are negotiated does not comply with the rules, the
Commission may nonetheless notify the relevant authority, “which shall
examine the notification and inform the Commission of its intentions”,
the text says.
In talks with the Council,
Parliament’s negotiators ensured that the draft rules on deciding
operating restrictions include requirements to ensure that people living near
airports are better informed of them and to give more consideration to the
effects of aircraft noise on public health.
Next
steps
The agreed text now needs to be
approved by the Parliament as a whole at the April II plenary
session.
Procedure:&n
bsp;Co-decision, second reading agreement