Commission asks for EC's accession to the ICAO and the IMO

Today the Commission is asking the Council to authorize negotiations for the European Community's accession to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). Through this accession the European Union will finally be a party in these important international organizations which come within the scope of its competence but in which it currently only plays a minor role as an observer.

The expansion of EU competence in the aviation and maritime sectors and the increasing participation of the Community in the work of the ICAO and the IMO over the past ten years make it necessary for the European Community to become a member of these two organizations. Today the Commission is formally asking the Council to authorize it to start negotiations for accession.

In spite of the Union's commercial clout in the world, it carries little weight in the adoption of essential international rules in the transport sector. The Union's accession to these two organizations, already announced in the new White Paper on transport ^[(1)] will put an end to this paradoxical situation. There are significant drawbacks in merely having observer status, which is the position of the European Community at the ICAO and the Commission at the IMO. For instance,

• at the ICAO the Community is not systematically kept informed of the agenda of meetings and can participate only if it receives an ad hoc invitation;

• at the IMO the Commission cannot speak on behalf of the Community - even in areas where it has exclusive competence - nor can it refer to EU decisions, which may lead to positions being taken up that are contrary to the Union's interest.

The request for accession transmitted to the Council today, however, does not mean that accession will be immediate. In order for the Community to become a member, the conventions establishing these organizations will have to be amended, namely the Chicago Convention for the ICAO and the Geneva Convention for the IMO. These amendments will have to be approved by two thirds of the members of these organizations. This will take several years. The Commission therefore envisages a number of transitional measures for the next few years:

• with regard to the ICAO, the Commission intends to designate an on-site representative and adapt internal procedures to the workings of the ICAO;

• with regard to the IMO, the Commission asks the Member States to reach agreement so as to enable the Presidency of the Union or the Commission, in accordance with its responsibilities, to formulate the European position.

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  [(1)] Adopted by the Commission in September 2001. For more information please click here.

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• Intervención de la UE sobre protección y preservación del medio marino (9/4/2002)