§ Mr. Hanleyasked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the Commission's latest proposals for a Community air transport policy.
§ Mr. David MitchellThe Commission has now submitted to the Council a memorandum on a Community air transport policy. A copy will be deposited in the 213W Library of the House in the normal way. The memorandum recommends the Council to adopt a number of draft measures to relax some of the rigid controls over intra-European scheduled air services.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I attach great importance to liberalising air services within Europe. We and our predecessors have been urging the Commission for some time to submit its proposals to the Council. We have also pressed the case for liberalisation with our partners at a series of bilateral meetings. We have been encouraged by the way our case has been received and are pressing for rapid progress to be made by the Council in examining the Commission's proposals.
Although I have not yet had an opportunity to consider the proposals in detail, I am afraid that it is clear that they are very modest. Indeed, I can already say that they do not go anywhere near far enough to meet our aspiration to introduce the degree of competition which we believe is desirable if airlines are to provide the varied services which their customers want at prices they can afford.
I have already asked M. Fiterman, the chairman of the Transport Council, to arrange an urgent Ministerial discussion of the Commission's proposals. I hope that this will lead to a quick and constructive study of the proposals in detail. During that study we shall seek to persuade our partners to adopt a more worthwhile series of measures which will introduce significant liberalisation into European air transport.