The following is an examination by the European Transport Workers Federation (ETF) of the ‘Report of the High Level Group for the Future European Aviation Regulatory Framework’. The ETF represents over 250,000 workers including those across aviation within Europe.
High level questions can prove hard to solve when a group that has been especially designed to gather converging opinions, is confronted with the difficulty of delivering a new and workable outcomes.
Though we can imagine that some intense discussions took place within this group, we can see how their work could have benefited from some contradiction. Personnel representatives had been denied direct involvement in this group. They were given only one opportunity to have their say under the title of the so-called “professional staff associations”, as the words “trade unions” were quite deliberately and purposely NOT used. This undermines the integrity of the Report, the confidence in the Commissioner and promotes mistrust in the objectives and outcomes of the Single European Sky. The tens of thousands of European ATM workers who are the core driving force of this industry are not deemed reliable enough to be involved.
In these circumstances, to provide comprehensive workable results based on independent expertise when internal influences are potentially too conservative must create a handicap?
To be the mere reflection of the composition of the group was an easier task to perform. Not to be innovative, or to be unfaithful to the traditional liberal dogma, was a drawback that was seemingly accepted.
In the end, what is new in the HLG report? Probably only the creation of an Aviation System Coordinator.
The report quotes the Lisbon strategy in terms of economic and environmental dimensions. It does not mention the 3rd pillar: the Social Dimension. This is one of the main concerns that ETF has with the HLG report, the social aspect of the SES process is not considered in the report, except as an economical element from an economical point of view.
Vice President Barrot had appointed the High Level Group in November 2006. He intended to respond to influential Aviation stakeholders who wanted “to simplify and increase the effectiveness of the regulatory framework for aviation in Europe. Vice President Barrot asked the High Level group to present a vision for the development of the aviation regulatory framework – with a particular focus on Air Traffic Management – and to provide a roadmap with practical next steps”.
