EGHD Position Paper Proposed Changes to RP3 Performance and Charging Schemes
The Expert Group on the Human Dimension (EGHD) has been asked by the European Commission for a position paper on the future of the Performance and Charging scheme regulations. These regulations govern the performance scheme which regulates ATM providers on Safety, Cost, Capacity, and the Environment. The regulations are currently being revised and amended by the European Commission in advance of RP3 which starts on 1st Jan 2020. Over the last months and as briefed at our last meeting in Madrid this paper has been the topic of some discussion, but we have reached consensus and the final paper is published below. The EGHD is made up of the ATM Social Partners (ETF, ATCEUC and CANSO) and the staff professional organisations (IFATCA, IFATSEA and IFAIMA).
EGHD - RP3 Performance and Charging Schemes Position Paper
ATM Unions determined to defend the right to strike
Our Rights, Your Safety
The Air Traffic Controllers European Unions Coordination (ATCEUC) and the European Transport Workers' Federation (ETF) have launched today a campaign to oppose the European Commission will to shape and limit the Air Traffic Controllers(ATCOs)’ right to strike. Indeed, Commission encroaches the national sovereignty of Member States as the right to strike falls outside the scope of the Treaties.
The recommendations of the European Commission that are inside the Communication ‘Aviation: Open and Connected Europe (COM 2017) 286 final’ dated on 8 June 2017 significantly encroach the national sovereignty of Member States and contradict the Article 153 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union which clearly states that the right to strike is excluded from EU competencies.
ETF and ATCEUC joint press conference
ETF and ATCEUC joint press conference to launch our new campaign:
On 20th November at the International Press Center in Brussels
Airlines cause 1 million minutes of delay while blaming others
The undersigned ATM Professional Staff Organisations note with great regret yet another attack of Airlines for Europe (A4E) on the European Air Traffic Management in the form of a joint letter of A4E member airlines’ CEOs to the European Air Navigation Service providers (ANSPs). The letter enumerates a number of ATM-related issues as cause for the delays.
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Joint Public Statement on the Regulation of Remote Towers Operation
Remote Tower technology is used, or planned to be used in the very next future, by more and more Air Navigation Service Providers.
Yet the ATM staff representative organizations ETF and ATCEUC do not believe that the regulatory approach to this subject by EASA is appropriate and effective. After months trying to convince EASA to reconsider the approach and to listen to our concerns, we decided time has come to go public with this joint public statement you find attached.
PSOs Position on Incentives
As part of the consultation on the performance scheme for RP3 that the Commission is currently undertaking, a study and workshop on ‘incentives’ was held recently. ETF, together with the other Professional Staff Organisations attended this workshop and have followed this up by submitting a joint written response. It is our firm view that incentives have no place in the performance scheme as these lead to short term and short sighted decisions, and distract from providing a responsible and effective long term service. We were pleased to work with our fellow staff representative organisations to provide a common staff view.
ETF STRONGLY OPPOSES THE ATTACK ON FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS OF ATCOs
As part of its package entitled ‘Open and connected Europe’, the European Commission announced today its recommendations on the so-called service continuity, including measures affecting the right to strike. The ETF strongly deplores this attempt to limit indirectly this fundamental right guaranteed by the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights by proposing measures such as individual notification, protection of overflights and air traffic peak periods.
The proposed measures significantly encroach the national sovereignty of Member States and contradict the Article 153 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union which clearly states that the right to strike is excluded from EU competencies. This article must be understood as a whole, including the way this right is being organised at national level.
ETF position paper on RP3
Discussions around the third reference period for the performance scheme are ongoing. It is more than time for the decision makers to update the EU regulations in order to make it a balanced and shared vision between all the stakeholders. In this context ETF has produced a position paper, summarizing the staff concerns and proposals.
Download here: RP3 Position Paper Final
Reality check: what’s behind flight delays ?
Efficiency, capacity and growth in European aviation from Prospect Union
What is the true economic impact of air traffic control (ATC) strikes in Europe? Following the allegations expressed by airlines about the consequences resulting of ATC strikes the European Air Traffic Controllers European Unions Coordination (ATCEUC) and the European Transport Workers' Federation (ETF) have unveiled today at a press conference in Brussels the real data behind the causes and consequences of flight delays. Our research based on official EUROCONTROL data has namely exposed that airlines themselves are by far the largest cause of delays and account for more than 50 percent of all delays in air traffic.
The right to workers' representation and collective action are enshrined in the founding Treaties of the European Union, while these Treaties stipulate that the EU has no competence on the right of strike which remains fully in the remit of individual Member States. In addition, international evidence shows that free and independent trade unions make a net positive contribution to productivity, competitiveness as well as safety. While we don't deny that industrial action has consequences on the traffic, we reiterate that it belongs to the fundamental rights of workers.
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