European transport ministers and the European Parliament are struggling to reach an agreement on financing for additional airport security measures.
Some member states are fiercely resisting a Parliament proposal that calls for governments to help fund the extra security costs that face airports and airlines.
Failure to reach an agreement by the end of October would see the proposals thrown out, effectively bringing the whole process back to square one and ending for the foreseeable future the possibility of a common framework for European aviation security.
In September, the proposals went through the so-called informal trialogue stage, in which Parliament, ministers and the European Commission failed to reach an agreement on the security funding issue. This followed the successful second reading of a parliamentary bill that called for member states to pay for a "proportion" of the additional costs.
This itself was a toned-down version of an initial proposal from Parliament which stated that member states should fund all additional security measures as the extra risk represented a threat to the security of the European Union (EU) states, which have an obligation to protect their citizens. ACI Europe, the group representing Europe's airports, calls for states to fund additional security equipment, infrastructure and staff training.
The process is in the formal conciliation phase, which gives until around the end of October to reach a compromise.
The main stumbling block has been the reluctance of the UK (where security costs are picked up by airports) to fund the new measures. In addition, Spain took issue with the bill's wording and some close to the talks claim other member states are "hiding" behind the UK.
While Parliament and ministers try to resolve their differences, the EC is doing its best to act as a mediator. The issue of competitive distortions caused by the varying methods of security funding throughout the EU will form part of an ongoing EC study into competition between airports, expected by year-end.
During the conciliation stage, progress was made on other issues, including 100% hold baggage screening, limiting luggage screening personnel to 20 minutes "screen-time" and random airport inspections, although negotiations were again fraught. Germany was "fighting tooth and nail" for random baggage screening, says one source, but finally agreed to a phased-in 100% approach.
The 23 members of the European Civil Aviation Conference that are not members of the EU have agreed to abide by the proposed measures.
Source: Airline Business