WRITTEN QUESTION E-1180/00 by Marjo Matikainen-Kallström (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Children on aircraft.
20. 2. 2001 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 53 E/93 As for the European Year of Languages, the main aim of this initiative is to heighten awareness of the importance of learning languages. All languages deemed eligible for support identified by the Member States for the implementation of the European Year of Languages, whatever their status, will be given equal access to the programme. As part of its action for safeguarding and promoting regional and minority languages, the Commission intends to conduct a study of regional and minority language communities in the Union today. This project will build on the results of the Euromosaic study to present an updated view, among other things, of the position of such languages in national, regional and local legal, administrative and education systems. (2001/C 53 E/123) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1180/00 by Marjo Matikainen-Kallström (PPE-DE) to the Commission (12 April 2000) Subject: Children on aircraft Airlines observe various different practices with regard to the safety of children on board aircraft who do not have their own seats. Some do not permit children to be transported in safety seats attached to seats by means of safety belts. In this case, children have to be held in the lap during take-off and landing. Some airlines require children to be attached to adultsí seatbelts by means of a separate belt. Other airlines do not allow this. What methods does the Commission have at its disposal for improving the safety of very young passengers on board aircraft belonging to airlines operating within the territory of the Union? What will the Commission do to ascertain how it can be made easier for small children to travel by air, for example by means of measures relating to seats? Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission (15 June 2000) The regulation of the safety of passengers on board civil aircraft used for the purpose of commercial air transport by an operator established in the Community is currently the responsibility of each Member State, and this explains the diversity of treatment mentioned by the Honourable Member. Harmonised technical requirements and administrative procedures in respect of certain aspects of civil aviation safety are already laid down in Council Regulation (EEC) no 3922/91 of 16 December 1991 (1). Recently the Commission proposed to Council and Parliament (2) an amendment of this Regulation, aiming at extending its scope to include common requirements on operations by commercial airplanes. Further studies on this issue are being currently conducted. In respect of children and safety belts these requirements prescribe that a seat may only be occupied by two people if one is a child, and provided this child is properly secured by a supplementary loop belt or other restraint device. This implies also that children should in other cases be treated like any other passengers and be installed in a seat with their own seat-belt. No specific provision is however made for safety seats to be put on an aircraft seat. Adoption of this amending regulation will result in a harmonised set of legally binding operational safety requirements in the Community in this field. (1) OJ L 373, 31. 12. 1991. (2) COM(2000) 121