§ Baroness Burton of CoventryMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper.
The Question was as follows:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, as the Secretary of State for Transport on 30th June called for more consumer pressure to bring down air fares and increase competition between European airlines, they will indicate how consumer organisations can best be of assistance; and what dates are envisaged for future meetings of the council of Transport Ministers.
§ Viscount DavidsonMy Lords, the most effective action British consumer organisations can take is to help and encourage their European counterparts to bring pressure to bear on those governments who remain unwilling to liberalise. The next formal meeting of the Transport Council is on 10th and 11th November. My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Transport plans, however, to hold an earlier informal meeting on 3rd October to speed up progress.
§ Baroness Burton of CoventryMy Lords, I do not wish to discourage the Minister, but is he aware that the first part of his reply gets us nowhere because generalities do not make progress?
Perhaps I may ask him some specific questions. Is he aware that the Airline Users' Committee, in which I must declare an interest, the National Consumer Council and the Consumers' Association have spent months and in some cases years dealing with the problem of European air fares? Is he further aware that the National Consumer Council has relatively recently published a first-class report on that subject? Will the Minister ask the Minister of Aviation if he will bring together the representatives of those British organisations so that some real pressure may be engendered?
§ Viscount DavidsonMy Lords, I am aware of the interest the noble Baroness has in this matter. We have already sent copies of the National Consumer Council's report Air Transport and the Consumer to all member states of the European civil aviation conference, and have asked British embassies in those countries to do all that they can to draw attention to the report. Our objective is to ensure that real progress is made towards the agreed target date of 1992 for the liberalisation of the whole internal market, including air transport.
§ Baroness Burton of CoventryMy Lords, I do not want to be a nuisance; I want to help. Is it at all possible to inject some life into those proceedings? In view of his reply to me about the European associations, is the Minister aware that Mr. Spicer has praised the work of the Federation of Air Transport User Representatives in the European Community? Will the Minister ask the Secretary of State whether he realises the great advantage that there would be in bringing together those four organisations under the chairmanship of a Minister to bring some real pressure to bear upon the people in the European Community who do not wish to make progress?
§ Viscount DavidsonMy Lords, I think that the noble Baroness injects life into our proceedings here. We can only follow her example. I shall certainly bring her remarks to the attention of my right honourable friend. I do not think that there is anything further that I can add except perhaps to say that we should of course welcome any support the noble Baroness can give us in our efforts to speed up liberalisation in that sector.