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176 16[2006/2007]4 ULR EUROPEAN CURRENT SURVEY

European Commission requests ECJ The European Commission has requested the ECJ to impose a lump sum penalty and a
to oblige Greece to comply with its periodic penalty on Greece for its failure to implement the Commission Decision of 2002
Decision of 2002 declaring subsidies in relation to the recovery of State Aid granted by Greece to Olympic Airways between
granted to Olympic Airways illegal 1998 and 2002. On 12 May 2005, the ECJ confirmed that the Greek authorities had failed
(IP/06/1424) 18 October 2006 to recover from the airline State Aid estimated at least €161 million. This comprises €41
million of illegal restructuring aid and another estimated €120 million of operational aid,
that is, non-payment of various sums the company owes to the Greek State such as VAT
on fuel and airport charges. Having regard to the seriousness and duration of the
infringement, the Commission requests the ECJ to impose on Greece a lump sum payment
of €10,512 for each day since the ECJ judgment of 2005 until Commission Decision of
2002 has been implemented. If, nevertheless, this Decision is not fully implemented at the
request of the ECJ, then the court may also impose on Greece, from the day of this ruling,
a periodic penalty payment of €53,611 per day until the decision of 2002 is effectively
implemented.

European Commission continues The European Commission has announced that, although the negotiations on a PNR
negotiations with the United States agreement between the EU and the United States could not be concluded before 1 October
concerning airline passenger data 2006 (that is, within the timeframe provided for by the ECJ in its judgment), Commission
(MEMO/06/360) 1 October 2006 Vice-President Frattini and US Homeland Security Secretary Cherftoff have agreed that
the negotiations will continue with a view to concluding an agreement as soon as possible.
It was noted that much progress has already been made and it is in the interests of all
concerned, travellers, airlines, law enforcement agencies and data protection authorities,
that a new agreement is concluded as soon possible. In the meantime, the Commission has
urged the United States to continue to apply the safeguards for PNR data that were laid
down in the now-lapsed 2004 agreement until such time as a new agreement is reached so
as to minimise the risk of legal uncertainty and disruption to EU–US flights.

European Commission opens The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation into possible aid granted
investigation into financial support to by the German Land of Saxony to DHL and Leipzig/Halle airport, through the financing of
DHL and Leipzig/Halle airport the new southern runway and in the form of financial guarantees. The construction of the
(IP/06/1603) 22 November 2006 southern runway would be financed by capital contributions from the Land of Saxony,
which is the main shareholder of Leipzig/Halle airport. A preliminary assessment by the
Commission indicates that the revenues from this new runway might not be sufficient to
cover the additional costs or to provide return on the capital invested by the Land of
Saxony that would be expected by a market investor. Moreover, since this new runway
appears to be dedicated to DHL operations, its public financing might have to be analysed
as a commercial operation that raises State Aid concerns. In particular, the Commission
wants to ensure that DHL has not received additional State Aid over and above the
regional investment aid already approved by the Commission for the new DHL hub at
Leipzig-Halle Airport. The risk is that further aid would distort competition in the European
express parcel market.

High-level group set up to advise Two years after the adoption of the rules on the Single European Sky, the European
European Commission on the future Commission wishes to further pursue the simplification of the organisation of the sector.
of aviation regulation In September 2006, the Commission invited representatives of the national civil aviation
(IP/06/1529) 8 November 2006 administrations, aviation industry and Eurocontrol to a conference in Brussels to find ways
to improve the efficiency and performance of the system, while ensuring the highest safety
standards. The conference made some radical conclusions, which are now being followed
up by the creation of a ‘high-level group’. The group is composed of selected high level
representatives of the European states, air navigation service providers, airspace users,
airports and aviation industry. Both European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and Eurocontrol
are also represented. The group aims to report back to the Commission mid-2007, with
proposals on the public sector functions in European aviation.

Vice-President Barrot leads high-level The European Union–India aviation summit, jointly organised by the European Commission
delegation to EU–India aviation and the Ministry of Civil Aviation of India, took place in New Delhi on 23–24 November
summit 2006. The summit aimed to enhance political and industrial co-operation between India
(IP/06/1588) 20 November 2006 and the EU in the aviation sector. India is one of the world’s fastest growing aviation

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