Skeda informattiva dwar l-Opinjoni 

THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS



- draws attention to the fact that the local and regional authorities have a crucial role to play in the development of airports and of aviation, by virtue of their responsibility for the population's quality of life, environmental conditions, and the spatial and physical planning involved;

- supports the proposal to develop strategic planning for the management of airport capacity at EU level in a situation where there are shortages at a number of large airports, while at the same time a large number of airports are underused;

- notes that the conditions for a region's development largely depend on the quality of its connectivity. From the regional perspective, good connectivity is the primary benefit that the aviation sector is expected to deliver;

- regrets the fact that the Commission has not highlighted the role of regional airports and their importance for aviation development in the strategy. The balanced approach which the Commission intends to adopt under the Guidelines on State aid to airports and airlines (OJ C 99, 4.4.2014, p. 3) should take account of the need for regional development and connectivity for all Europe's regions, especially sparsely populated, peripheral and outermost regions, where there is an obvious risk of regional needs not being met by the market;

- sees great potential for the use of drones at local and regional level, not least in more sparsely populated parts of Europe, and it supports the ambition of putting Europe in a leading position in the development of drone technology and use. The Committee of the Regions would like to see basic risk-based, harmonised regulation of all drone use at EU level, in line with the principle of subsidiarity, and it underlines the need for dialogue between EASA and relevant players at national, regional and local level within the Member States.