By Henrietta Billings - 12th July 2004
Brussels has unveiled proposals for a Europe-wide licence for EU air traffic controllers.
Under plans adopted on Monday, qualifications for air traffic controllers will be harmonised, enabling workers to move throughout the EU with a mutually recognised licence.
EU transport chief Loyola de Palacio has championed the proposal welcomed the adoption of the plans.
"[It] confirms the commission's intention to enhance the regulatory framework for the air traffic management industry... with an initiative on the working conditions in this sector," she said in a statement.
The licence, welcomed by Eurocontrol - the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation - is designed to reinforce safety levels of air traffic management by introducing common training standards and tests that will be recognised across the EU.
The move follows on from a series of measures known as the 'Single European Sky' package adopted earlier this year to create a single airspace out of a patchwork of almost 50 separate national zones.
The single sky legislation - due to come into force in 2005 - aims to cut delays which cost the industry as much as €1.9 billion a year.
It gives a committee headed by the European Commission powers to resolve conflicts between the different member states.
The new proposals will have to be agreed to by MEPs and national governments before they can become law.
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