Volcano forces cancellation of EU meetings

Fisheries meeting and accession talks with Croatia abandoned, European Parliament plenary meeting in doubt.

The spread of an ash cloud from a volcanic eruption in Iceland has forced the cancellation of numerous EU meetings on Monday, and may force the European Parliament to abandon its monthly plenary session in Strasbourg.

The Spanish presidency of the Council of Ministers announced today (18 April) it will not hold a meeting of fisheries ministers in Luxembourg “due to restrictions in air traffic”. A round of accession talks with Croatia that was due to be held in Brussels has also been cancelled.

Europe-wide bans on flights will also prevent some EU telecommunications ministers from attending informal talks being held on Monday in Granada, Spain. Those unable to attend will instead follow the meeting by video-conference, the Spanish presidency said.

The European Parliament’s plenary session in Strasbourg is also in doubt, though a final decision on whether to go ahead with the four-day session will be made on Monday afternoon.

The decision can only be made by the Parliament’s political group leaders and Jerzy Buzek, the president of the assembly, who were only expected to meet on Monday afternoon, prior to the planned opening of the plenary.

The delay will cause frustration for some MEPs and assistants, many of whom are struggling to find alternative modes of transport to get to Strasbourg.

Sonia Alfano, an Italian liberal MEP said “a lot of MEPs, maybe a majority, will not attend the session”, adding that “the EP cannot clearly vote under these circumstances”.

The risks posed to jet airlines by the ash from Iceland’s Eyjafjallajoekull volcano has closed down most of European airspace since Thursday (15 April), putting a strain on other transport like rail.

Authorities in the UK, Denmark, Germany, France and elsewhere are keeping in place full or partial bans on flights until at least mid-Monday.

Eurocontrol, which coordinates air traffic control across the continent, said only 4,000 flights were expected in European airspace on Monday. The normal figure is 24,000.

“We expect that more than 63,000 flights in total will have been cancelled since Thursday,” Eurocontrol said on Sunday.

The restrictions forced many world leaders to abandon plans to attend the state funeral of Polish President Lech Kaczyński and his wife in Krakow on Sunday.

Commission assessing situation

Hundreds of thousands of travellers have been stranded in Europe, Asia and North America as a result and the flight ban is also putting already ailing airlines at risk of bankruptcy.

José Manuel Barroso, the European Commission’s president, said on Sunday that he had set up a special ad hoc group to assess the economic impact the flight ban is having on European businesses.

Barroso said that Siim Kallas, the EU’s transport commissioner, will work with Olli Rehn, the economic affairs commissioner, and Joaquín Almunia, the commissioner in charge of competition and state aid, to “fully assess” the damage done to European economies “and the air travel industry in particular”, Barroso said.

“It is important that all measures to be considered are co-ordinated at the European level,” said Barroso.

José Blanco, the Spanish transport and public works minister, announced he would chair a special video-conference with EU transport ministers on Monday (19 April) to assess the situation and to study what alternative transport could be offered to get stranded passengers home.