EU komt in 2006 met zwarte lijst voor vliegtuigmaatschappijen (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Commission has opted to speed up the introduction of an EU-wide blacklist of unsafe airlines.

The move could see companies on the bloc's list banned from its entire airspace, starting from next year.

A common European blacklist will be based on the criteria put forward by the commission, while it will remain possible to add in new companies after its publication.

The new rules are part of the pending EU law on passenger information, proposed last February, and currently in the parliamentary pipelines.

The original legislative proposal stated that a community blacklist would not lead to automatic bans on all enlisted carriers throughout the EU, leaving it up to member states to decide which company to bar from its territory.

However, after six plane accidents in August with over 300 casualties, the commission announced it would support the European Parliament's proposal for an EU-wide ban on all the companies on the bloc's blacklist.

The EU executive is set to press for an early adoption of such a solution and hopes to have it hammered out by the member states.

But some countries - like Italy - are reported to be reluctant to support the move, calling for a list of safe companies instead.

Three national black lists

Britain, France and Belgium have already published their national lists of forbidden airlines, while Brussels has urged other countries to follow suit.

The French and Belgian lists are mutually exclusive, but several names coincide with those on a UK list.

Switzerland, not an EU member state but with close ties to the bloc, also presented two lists of airlines banned and permitted on its territory on Thursday (1 September).

The country's aviation authorities came under pressure in 2004 after revelations that a passenger jet carrying European travellers, which had crashed in Egypt last January, was one of the aircrafts banned from Swiss airspace.

The incident motivated the new EU measures, leading to the current proposal of the pan-European blacklist.

However, some experts doubt its effectiveness, arguing that airlines will be far less willing to report incidents or technical faults than when they are enjoying partial confidentiality, and may focus instead purely on how not to appear on the list.

Aviation authorities have also called on the commission to present its definition of common criteria for blacklists.

More safety measures on the way

Transport commissioner Jacques Barrot is set to propose another set of rules on aviation safety this autumn, involving air operators certification and pilot licences.

He will also call for more powers for the European Aviation Safety Agency, set up in 2002, to carry out inspections on member states and their application of EU safety measures.

The new proposal will affect third-country carriers, subjecting them to more severe safety regulations, with the commission authorised to ban or restrict any airline not complying with them.