Proposals to assess non-EU aircraft approved by MEPs

MEPs yesterday voted to approve proposals to set standards for the assessment of aircraft from third countries using EU airports. This will involve extending ramp inspections to all airports open to international air traffic and extending inspections to all aircraft.

Other amendments to the proposals will mean more information must be provided to the public on the number and types of aircraft that have been grounded and the reasons for their grounding.

The Dublin MEP, Mr Niall Andrews, expressed sympathy to families of victims of the recent Swissair crash off the coast of Nova Scotia, but called on the EU and member-states to address congestion in the skies.

He said: "While the liberalisation of air traffic has resulted in cheaper fares and increased passenger travel, it has brought new problems, and no financial resources must be spared in upgrading our air-traffic control systems to meet the new demand of increased passenger usage."

He said statistics indicated that air delays in Europe had reached their worst level for nine years, with 30 per cent of all scheduled flights in Europe and 45 per cent of charter flights taking off late.

The most crowded air space in Europe, he said, was over the south-east of England, where this year alone air traffic controllers had filed a record number of "over-load" reports, while the opening of a new air-traffic control centre in England was four years behind schedule.

He said two-thirds of flight delays in Europe were due to sky congestion and if Terminal 5 was completed at Heathrow Airport in London, passenger traffic at that airport would increase to over 100 million a year.

Meanwhile, the Government was severely criticised at the parliament yesterday in a debate on waste management for its failure to enforce EU legislation on the matter.

The Green MEP, Ms Patricia McKenna, said: "The EU Commission has an extremely weak attitude towards enforcing legislation on waste management and as a result irresponsible countries like Ireland are allowed to continue the dangerous and unsustainable option of landfill."

In Ireland many dumps were on the periphery of large residential areas, and Ms McKenna quoted from a recent study published in the Lancet magazine which indicated that "thousands of pregnant women living near landfill sites are running an increased risk of producing children with birth defects".

She called on the Government to "urgently conduct health studies around landfill sites and to introduce comprehensive pollution inventories so the public know what wastes are dumped in their area".

The Leinster MEP, Mr Jim Fitzsimons (FF), said that from an Irish perspective the future of waste disposal did not lie in the continued search for more landfill sites nationwide which invariably aroused serious local objections.

While there was a growing public concern about the long-term environmental impact of landfill sites, he welcomed Government initiatives which commissioned a study into the possible use of new and alternative forms of waste generation and disposal.