E.U.-wide Airline Blacklist to Apply from 2006

The European Commission has opted to speed up the introduction of an EU-wide blacklist of unsafe airlines. The move could see companies on the bloc´s list banned from its entire airspace, starting from next year.

A common European blacklist will be based on the criteria put forward by the commission, while it will remain possible to add in new companies after its publication. The new rules are part of the pending EU law on passenger information, proposed last February, and currently in the parliamentary pipelines.

The original legislative proposal stated that a community blacklist would not lead to automatic bans on all enlisted carriers throughout the EU, leaving it up to member states to decide which company to bar from its territory.

However, after six plane accidents in August with over 300 casualties, the commission announced it would support the European Parliament´s proposal for an EU-wide ban on all the companies on the bloc´s blacklist.

The EU executive is set to press for an early adoption of such a solution and hopes to have it hammered out by the member states. But some countries – like Italy – are reported to be reluctant to support the move, calling for a list of safe companies instead.

Aviation authorities have also called on the commission to present its definition of common criteria for blacklists. More safety measures on the way Transport commissioner Jacques Barrot is set to propose another set of rules on aviation safety this autumn, involving air operators certification and pilot licenses.

He will also call for more powers for the European Aviation Safety Agency, set up in 2002, to carry out inspections on member states and their application of EU safety measures. The new proposal will affect third-country carriers, subjecting them to more severe safety regulations, with the commission authorized to ban or restrict any airline not complying with them.