ETRC pushes EC on “lack of progress” with EU/US aviation security issues

Tina Milton

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ETRC president Frank O’Connell has raised concerns with European Commission president José Manuel Barroso over the slow progress being made between the EU and US on aviation security matters

The European Travel Retail Council (ETRC) has written to European Commission president José Manuel Barroso to express concerns over “lack of progress” with negotiations with its US counterpart over matters of aviation security.

Although ETRC president Frank O’Connell welcomed the Commission’s pragmatic approach to the transfer passenger problem and its proposal for a regulation to allow unilateral recognition of airports in select third countries, he called for a swift and sustainable solution to problems with transatlantic transfer passenger traffic.

ETRC has also written to transport commissioner Jacques Barrot about the slow pace of development in EU/ US negotiations but stressed the Council’ s concerns that some important third countries with big transfer passengers flows could be excluded from recognition if the current Commission policy on Community competence on aviation matters remains unchanged. ETRC provided statistics on inbound transfer passengers into the EU compared with total duty-free and travel-retail turnover that indicated that four of the top 10 airports in terms of transfer passenger traffic–Istanbul, Moscow, Tokyo Narita and Tel Aviv –would not be recognised under the present policy as they have yet to recognise community competence.

In a statement, ETRC said: “If the Commission recognises countries on the basis of this policy rather than security standards, this could seriously damage consumer confidence and possibly lead to retaliatory measures being adopted by these countries.”

In a separate development, ETRC has been advised that there will be a short delay in the formal adoption of the Commission regulation allowing unilateral recognition of third country airport security due to technical amendments required to the text. The regulation will now be adopted in early July.