andMr. O'Donnell asked the Minister for Tourism and Transport the nature of proposals in relation to civil aviation currently under consideration by the EEC and their implications for Ireland.
Written Answers. - EEC Civil Aviation Proposals.
260.
At a meeting in June 1977 the EEC Council of Ministers decided that certain questions concerning civil aviation should be examined. The task of undertaking the examination was assigned to a working party on transport questions specially constituted for the study of questions concerning air transport. The terms of reference were as follows:
(1) to identify those areas of Government activity in the field of air transport which would derive benefit from early attention within the Community framework and to draw up a priority list of items for examination,
(2) if necessary, to study what provisions the Council might adopt for air transport under Article 84 (2) of the Treaty of Rome,
(3) to examine what subjects the Council could ask the Commission to study in relation both to points (1) and (2) and to the application of the general provisions of the Treaty to Air Transport.
The working party are pursuing their studies and Ireland has been represented at their meetings. The Commission programme of work for 1979 states that it will, in the first half of this year, send to the Council a communication on the improvement of the general structure of civil aviation and the degree of competition in this sector in the Community. This communication is awaited.
It would be premature at this stage to speculate on the implications for Ireland of any proposals which may emerge from these initiatives.
At its meeting on 20 February, 1979 the Council of Ministers (Transport) had before it a proposal for a Council directive on the limitation of noise emissions from subsonic aircraft. The Council decided that the proposal needed further study.