MEPs look set to clash with European ministers on the thorny issue of who should pay for heightened security equipment and measures at European airports. The European Parliament's Transport Committee last night adopted a position calling for EU member states to pick up the cost of security methods above and beyond common EU standards. The proposed EC directive on the subject, drawn up last May, does not currently impose public financing.
This issue of course has been thrust back into the spotlight following the alleged attempt to destroy a Delta Air Lines flight over Detroit on 25 December. This has seen moves to rush in body-scanners at a number of EU airports, which are not currently listed in the EU common standard.
In adopting its position, the Transport Committee argued that governments, rather than passengers, should pay for national security measures that aim to protect citizens from acts of terrorism.
This sets them on a collision course with members states which are opposed to a directive imposing public financing. But MEPs say they are determined, if necessary, to take the fight all the way to the Parliament/Council conciliation committee, and Transport Committee chairman Brian Simpson, said he would recommend rejecting the proposal as a whole if EU ministers did not accept Parliament's position.
The burden of increasing security costs has long been a worry among European airports and it is one of the key issues addressed by airports body ACI Europe in recently launching its vision for future EU aviation policy. "Security now accounts for 35% of airport operating costs in Europe - almost entirely borne by the industry, while elsewhere in the world security is - quite correctly - paid for by government," says ACI Europe. It appears the MEPs are listening.
More here on the Transport Committe position.
More here on ACI Europe's EU aviation policy vision
Picture credit: Rii Schroer/Rex Features
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