I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."
The purpose of this Bill is to provide for implementation by Ireland of the protocol amending the international convention relating to co-operation for the safety of air navigation, commonly known as the "Eurocontrol Convention", together with the multilateral agreement on route charges. The amending protocol and the multilateral agreement on route charges as well as the Final Act of the diplomatic conference on the protocol were signed, subject to ratification, on behalf of Ireland in Brussels on 12 February, 1981.
The Eurocontrol International Convention relating to co-operation for the safety of air navigation was signed on 13 December 1960. The convention was brought into effect in Ireland by the Air Navigation (Eurocontrol) Act, 1963.
The main reason for the establishment of the Eurocontrol Organisation was to maintain, in co-operation with other States concerned, the safe, orderly and efficient flow of aircraft particularly the newer jet aircraft which fly not only at very great speeds but also at very great altitudes. Practical experience had shown that it is only through common action by the states concerned that the economic utilisation of their upper airspace could be achieved.
Owing to the high speeds of jet aircraft flying above 20,000 feet, other modern aids are required, in addition to the crew maintaining visual watch from the aircraft, to avoid collisions. As a result air traffic must be controlled from the ground. Jet aircraft fly quickly from an area under one control centre to another and from one national boundary to another, sometimes in a matter of minutes, and this necessitates quick transfers from one control centre to another.
In addition to the increases in the numbers and speed of aircraft, there had been a significant growth in the volume of complexity of radio and electronic equipment designed to extend the reliability and use of aircraft in varying weather and other flying conditions. The provision of these aids assisted the rationalisation of demands on available radio frequencies, and other communication media.
The problems arising from the use of jet aircraft were compounded in the airspace over the Western European countries because of the high density of air traffic and this led to the establishment of Eurocontrol in December 1960.
The Eurocontrol Organisation initially consisted of six members — Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, the Federal Republic of Germany and the United Kingdom. Ireland became the seventh member in January 1965. On ratification of the amending protocol, Portugal will become the eighth member state of Eurocontrol. Technical or co-operation agreements have been concluded with a number of non-member states including Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy, Portugal, Austria, Canada and the United States Federal Aviation Administration. The organisation have their headquarters in Brussels. They employ about 1,100 staff of which about 1 per cent are Irish.
Eurocontrol is composed of two bodies: the Permanent Commission, which is a deliberative body, and the Air Traffic Services Agency, an executive body. The commission have a dual role, firstly to formulate common policies on certain matters relating to air traffic control, and secondly, to exercise the power of general supervision of the agency's activities.
The Eurocontrol Convention defines in Article 6, the aims and functions of the Permanent Commission as follows:
The aims of the commission shall be to promote the adoption of measures and the installation and operation of facilities designed to:
— ensure the safety of air navigation;
— ensure an orderly and rapid flow of air traffic,
within defined airspace under the sovereignty of the contracting parties or in respect of which the air traffic services have been entrusted to those parties under international agreements.
For this purpose the commission shall be responsible for:
(a) the study, on the basis of the Standards and Recommended Practices of the International Civil Aviation Organisation, of the standardisation of the operation of the services responsible for ensuring the safety and regulation of air traffic:
(b) the promotion of a common policy to be followed in respect of radio aids, telecommunications and corresponding airborne equipment, designed to ensure the safety of aircraft;
(c) the promotion and co-ordination of studies relating to air navigation services and installations in order to take account of technical developments, and, if necessary, the study of amendments to the Regional Air Navigation Plans to be submitted to the International Civil Aviation Organisation;
(d) the determination of the configuration of the airspace in respect of which air traffic services are entrusted to the agency;
(e) the determination of the policy to be followed by the agency in respect of remuneration for services rendered to users, and, where applicable, the approval of the tariffs and conditions of application of charges established by the agency;
(f) the study of measures designed to facilitate the financing of investments required for the functioning of the agency or more generally of the services of the contracting parties which participate in the work of ensuring the safety of air navigation;
(g) the exercise of the power of general supervision of the activities of the agency.
The Permanent Commission acts through recommendations, decisions, directives and conclusions on the following basis:
(i) Recommendations to member states relate to the standardisation of national regulations governing air traffic, or the promotion of a common policy in respect of radio aids, telecommunications and airborne equipment. Recommendations are formulated by majority vote.
(ii) Decisions concern important matters of general policy such as the determination of the configuration of the upper airspace in respect of which the air traffic services are entrusted to the agency. Decisions are taken by the commission acting unanimously, and are binding on the member states.
(iii) Directives issued to the agency cover various fields, in particular the financing of investments.
(iv) Conclusions are formulated in respect of deliberations concerning the powers of general supervision of the agency and the reference of appeals to the arbitration tribunal.
The voting system adopted for directives and conclusions is notable for the balance it achieves among the member states. On the one hand, it was necessary to give greater weight to states making the heaviest financial contributions and this was done by taking the objective economic criterion of the gross national produce (GNP), but on the other hand, the interests of states having a low GNP weighting factor had to be safeguarded. For these reasons, it was stipulated that an absolute majority of weighted votes would be valid only if the proposal were accepted by more than half the member states.
To sum up, the commission's directives to the agency and their acts in the exercise of their power of general supervision are valid only if they satisfy the following two conditions: an absolute majority of weighted votes and an absolute majority of the member states.
A unanimous vote is sometimes required for certain matters covered by specific provisions of the convention or the statute of the agency.
Member states are generally represented on the commission by the Ministers responsible for civil aviation. The office of the President of the Permanent Commission is assumed by the representatives of the member states in turn for a period of one year. The Irish Minister has held office of President of the Permanent Commission for two periods, that is from July 1969 to June 1970 and from July 1976 to June 1977. The present Minister for Transport, Deputy Jim Mitchell, has been appointed as president for the year beginning 1 January 1984.
The role of the agency is to provide air traffic services in the airspace defined by the Commission — upper airspace, generally the airspace above 20,000 feet — and to install facilities required to ensure efficient and smooth operation of such services. To this end, the agency cooperate closely with the national authorities in order to satisfy as efficiently and economically as possible the needs of the air traffic under their control. The agency are administered by a committee of management and a director general.
The committee of management are composed of high-ranking officials of the member states with responsibility for air navigation. Each state has two representatives, only one of whom has the right to vote.
The committee, inter alia, take decisions on the technical organisation of the agency, prepare the budgetary estimates for each financial year, draw up the investment and operating programmes, the service regulations and the contract regulations and submit an annual report to the commission on the activities and financial position of the organisation.
The director general is at the head of all the agency's services and, in conjunction with the committee of management, is responsible for the general administration of the agency. The director general represents the organisation in legal proceedings and for all civil purposes. Within certain limits specified in the agency's regulations, he may appoint officials and terminate their services, contract loans and enter into agreements. He keeps the committee informed of all measures taken in the exercise of the powers conferred on him.
The present Director General, Mr. Horst Flentje of the Federal Republic of Germany, took up his appointment on 1 July 1983 for a five-year period. He had previously been the director in charge of engineering activities.
Notice taken than 20 Members were not present; House counted and 20 Members being present,