THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 80 (2) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee and of the Committee of Regions,
Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty,
Whereas experience has shown that Council Regulation (EEC) 95/93 of 18 January 1993 on common rules for the allocation of slots at Community airports has not proved sufficiently adequate in ensuring the fullest use of limited capacity at congested airports, inter alia by not striking the correct balance between the interest of incumbent air carriers with grandfather's rights and those of new entrants at an airport and by not ensuring that the use of the capacity could be adapted quickly and flexibly to market demands, in addition, it did not sufficiently ensure that the airport coordinator, responsible for the allocation of slots, could exercise his duties in a fully independent manner;
Whereas it is therefore necessary to amend that Regulation substantially and to clarify a number of its provisions;
Whereas under certain conditions, in order to facilitate airport operations, it is desirable that a Member State should be able to designate an airport as schedules facilitated thereby providing assistance by a schedules facilitator to avoid conflict between airline schedules;
Whereas at airports where there are serious capacity shortcomings more far-reaching measures are required; whereas in such situations airports should be designated as coordinated on the basis of objective criteria; whereas at coordinated airports detailed rules are required to ensure that the principles of transparency, neutrality and non-discrimination are fully adhered to;
Whereas the schedules facilitator must act in an independent manner; whereas the coordinator plays a central role in the coordinating process; whereas therefore the coordinator must be in a fully independent position and his responsibilities should be spelled out in detail;
Whereas it is necessary to specify in detail the role of the coordination committee to be established to carry out advisory functions in relation to slot allocation;
Whereas it is necessary to clarify that slot allocation must be considered as a concession system giving air carriers the entitlement to access the airport facilities by landing and taking-off at specific dates and timings for the duration of the concession period; whereas therefore slots do not constitute any property rights;
Whereas in the interest of stability it is necessary to make an exception to that rule by providing for the continuation of established grandfather rights; whereas regular operations at an airport should be given priority which should be administered strictly without distinction between scheduled and non-scheduled services;
Whereas in order to ensure the efficient use of capacity at congested airports and to further promote intermodality it is necessary to also consider in the process of slot allocation the existence of adequate and uninterrupted services of satisfactory quality provided by other modes of transport;
Whereas in order to encourage regular operations at an airport it is necessary to provide that grandfather and monetised transfers rights relate to a series of slots; whereas the situation of the grandfather rights in case of code-share or franchise agreements should be clarified;
Whereas it is essential to ensure flexibility and a minimum turnover of slots even at very congested airports in the Community; whereas in this process monetised transfers may contribute considerably to the necessary flexibility, provided that such monetised transfers are fully transparent, involves a time-limitation of the slots which are traded and contains the safeguard necessary to ensure a gradual and orderly development of this emerging market;
Whereas in order to ensure a sufficient slot mobility, the slot pool should also continue to be an important source of slots; whereas it is necessary to take further measures to ensure that slots allocated from the pool return after some period of time to that pool; whereas during that period  of time slots allocated from the pool are subject to the rules of the Regulation; whereas it is necessary, in case the other provisions of the Regulation fail to ensure that new entrants obtain a minimum number of slots, to remedy the situation by reclaiming slots from incumbent carriers; whereas in order to avoid difficulties with third countries, such withdrawal of grandfather rights shall only affect Community air carriers;
Whereas the provisions on new entrants should ensure that this status is granted to carriers operating independently and regularly; whereas the definition of new entrant should also facilitate the maintenance of adequate air services to regions;
Whereas there should be a procedure to review decisions taken by the coordinator;
Whereas it is necessary to make special provisions, under limited circumstances, for the maintenance of air services which are subject to public service obligations of the Member State concerned;
Whereas it is desirable that third countries offer Community carriers comparable treatment; whereas a procedure should be established enabling the Community to take action against third countries which do not grant comparable treatment to that granted in the Community;
Whereas it is necessary for a Committee composed of representatives of the Member States to assist the Commission in the application of the Regulation;
Whereas, at a coordinated airport, access for an air carrier is only possible if a slot has been allocated; whereas air carriers operating regularly and intentionally at times differing from the allocated slot times frustrate the system of coordination and corrective actions should be taken;
Whereas in order to review the developments, in particular, with respect to new entrants and slot monetised transfers, this Regulation should be reviewed after a fixed period of operation;
Whereas the application of the provisions of this Regulation shall be without prejudice to the competition rules of the Treaty, in particular Articles 81 and 82;
HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

ARTICLE 1
Regulation (EEC) No 95/93 is hereby amended as follows:

1. - Article 1 paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:
«1. This Regulation shall apply to the use of Community airports with capacity problems».

2. - Article 2 is amended as follows:
(a)  Points (a) and (b) are replaced by the following:
«(a) "slots" shall mean the entitlement established under this Regulation, of an air carrier to depart or arrive on a specific date and time as allocated by a coordinator at an airport coordinated under the terms of this Regulation;
(b) "new entrant" shall mean:
(i) an air carrier requesting, as part of a series of slots, a slot at an airport on any day, where, if the carrier's request were accepted, it would in total hold fewer than five slots at that airport on that day, or
(ii) an air carrier requesting a slot for a non-stop scheduled service between two Community airports where at most two other air carriers operate a direct scheduled service between these airports or airport systems on that day, where, if the carrier's request were accepted, it would nonetheless hold fewer that five slots at that airport on that day for that non-stop service;
(iii) an air carrier requesting a slot at an airport for a non-stop scheduled service between that airport and a regional airport where no other air carrier operates a direct scheduled service between these airports or airport systems on that day, where, if the carrier's request were accepted, it would nonetheless hold fewer that five slots at that airport on that day for that non-stop service;
For the purpose of paragraph (i), an air carrier shall not be considered as a new entrant if at the time of allocation:
- it has, at the airport concerned, a joint operation, code sharing or franchise arrangement with another air carrier which itself is not considered as a new entrant, or
- the majority of its capital is held by another air carrier which itself is not considered as a new entrant (subsidiary company), or
- it holds directly or indirectly the majority of the capital of another air carrier which itself is not considered as a new entrant (parent company), or
- it forms part of a group of undertakings, including air carriers of which one is not considered as a new entrant;
For the purpose of paragraph (ii), an air carrier which alone or together with other partners in a group of airlines holding more than 7% of the total number of slots on the day in question at a particular airport, or airport system shall not be considered as a new entrant at that airport on that day.»
(b) Paragraph (f) is replaced by:
«(f) "air carrier" shall mean an air transport undertaking holding a valid operating licence or equivalent at the latest on 31 January for the following summer season or on 31 August for the following winter season. For the purpose of Articles 7, 8, 8a and 10 paragraphs 1 to 4, the definition of air carrier shall also include business aviation operators.»
(c) Paragraph (g) is replaced by the following:
«(g) "coordinated airport" shall mean a schedules facilitated airport where, in order to land or take off, during the periods for which it is coordinated it is necessary for an air carrier to have been allocated a slot by a coordinator;»
(d) Paragraphs (i), (j), (k), (l) and (m) are added:
«(i) "schedules facilitated airport" shall mean an airport where there is potential for congestion at some periods of the day or week which is likely to be resolved by voluntary co-operation between airlines and where a schedules facilitator has been appointed to facilitate the operations of air carriers operating or intending to operate at that airport;
(j) "managing body of an airport" shall mean the body which, whether or not in conjunction with other activities, has the task under national laws or regulations of administering and managing the airport facilities and coordinating and controlling the activities of the various operators present at the airport or within the airport system concerned;
(k) "series of slots" shall mean at least five slots having been requested for a scheduling period at the same time regularly on the same weekday and allocated in that way or, if that it is not possible, allocated at approximately the same time.
(l) "regional airport" shall for the purpose of this Regulation mean a Regional and accessibility point or a Community connecting point as defined in Section 6 of Decision No 1692/96/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 1996 on Community guidelines for the development of the trans-European network
(m) "business aviation" shall mean that sector of general aviation which concerns the operation or use of aircraft by companies for the carriage of passengers or goods as an aid to the conduct of their business, flown for purposes generally considered not for public hire and piloted by individuals having, at the minimum, a valid commercial pilot license with an instrument rating.»

3. - Article 3 is amended as follows:
(a) Paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:
«1. A Member State shall be under no obligation to designate any airport as schedules facilitated or coordinated save in accordance with the provisions of this Article.»
(b) Paragraph 3 is replaced by the following:
«3. The Member State responsible shall ensure that a thorough capacity analysis is carried out by the managing body of an airport within six months following a written request, when:
(i) air carriers representing more than a half of the operations at an airport and/or the managing body of the airport consider that capacity is insufficient for actual or planned operations at certain periods; or
(ii) that Member State or the Commission consider it necessary in a situation where air carriers and in particular new entrants encounter serious problems in securing landing and take off possibilities at the airport in question or where an airport is in fact accessible only for air carriers that have been allocated slots by a coordinator.
This analysis, based on commonly recognised methods, shall determine the capacity shortcomings, taking into account environmental constraints applicable at the airport in question. The analysis shall consider the possibilities of overcoming such shortcomings through new or modified infrastructure, operational changes, or any other change and the time frame envisaged to resolve the problems. It shall be updated at least every three years if paragraph 5 has been invoked, or when there are changes at the airport influencing significantly the capacity and the use of it. Both the analysis and the method used shall be made available to the parties having requested the analysis and, upon request, to other interested parties.»
(c) Paragraph 4 is replaced by the following paragraphs 4 and 5 and the present paragraph 5 becomes paragraph 6:
«4. On the basis of the analysis the Member State shall consult on the capacity situation at the airport with the managing body of the airport, the air carriers using the airport regularly, their representative organisations, representatives of general aviation, air traffic control authorities and local passengers' organisations where such organisations exist. The analysis shall be communicated at the Commission at the same time.
5. If the shortcomings are of such a serious nature that significant delays cannot be avoided at the airport and if there are no possibilities of resolving these problems in the short term, the Member State shall ensure that the airport is designated as coordinated for the periods during which the capacity problems occur.'
6. When a capacity sufficient to meet actual or planned operations is provided at a coordinated airport, its designation as a coordinated airport shall be lifted.»

4. - Article 4 is amended as follows:
(a) The title is replaced by the following: «The schedules facilitator and the coordinator»
(b) Paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:
«1. The Member State responsible for a schedules facilitated or coordinated airport shall ensure the appointment of a qualified natural or legal person as schedules facilitator or airport coordinator respectively after having consulted the air carriers using the airport regularly, their representative organisations and the managing body of the airport. The same schedules facilitator or coordinator may be appointed for more than one airport.»
(c)  Paragraph 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 are replaced by the following:
«2. A Member State shall ensure that at a schedules facilitated airport, the schedules facilitator carries out his duties under the Regulation in an independent manner. A Member State shall ensure that at a coordinated airport the coordinator is institutionally separated and de facto independent from any single interested party. The member State shall ensure that the coordinator carries out his duties impartially according to this Regulation and that sufficient resources are made available in such a way that the financing of the coordination activities does not affect his independence.
3. The schedules facilitator and the coordinator shall act in accordance with this Regulation in a neutral, non-discriminatory and transparent way.
4. The schedules facilitator and the coordinator shall participate in such international scheduling conferences of air carriers as are permitted by Community law.
5. The schedules facilitator shall advise air carriers and recommend alternative arrival and/or departure times when congestion is likely to occur.
6. The coordinator shall be the sole person responsible for the allocation of slots. He shall allocate the slots according to the provisions of this Regulation and make provision that slots can also be allocated outside office hours in urgency situations.
7. The schedules facilitator and the coordinator shall monitor the use of schedules and slots in close co-operation with the managing body of the airport and with the air traffic control authorities.
8. All schedules facilitators and coordinators shall cross-check their databases in order to detect schedules inconsistencies.»
(d) Paragraph 7 becomes paragraph 9 and the introductory wording of the paragraph is replaced by the following:
«The coordinator shall on request and within a reasonable time make available free of charge for review to all interested parties, either in written or in any other easily accessible form, the following information:»
(e) The following sentence is added to paragraph 8 which becomes new paragraph 10:
«On request, the coordinator shall provide such information in a summarised format. A cost-related fee may be charged for the provision of such summarised information.»
(f) The following is inserted as new paragraph 4 (11):
«Where relevant and generally accepted schedules information standards are available, the schedules facilitator, the coordinator and the air carriers shall apply them provided that they comply with Community law.»

5. - Articles 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 are replaced by the following:
«ARTICLE 5. Coordination committee - 1. At a coordinated airport, the Member State responsible shall ensure that a coordination committee is set up. The same coordination committee may be designated for more than one airport. Participation in this committee shall be open at least to the air carriers and their representative organisations using the airport(s) regularly, the managing body of the airport concerned, the relevant air traffic control authorities and representatives of general aviation.
The tasks of the coordination committee shall be, inter alia, to propose or advise on:
- possibilities for increasing the capacity of the airport determined in accordance with Article 3 or improving the use of it;
- coordination parameters to be determined in accordance with Article 6;
- local guidelines for the allocation of slots, taking into account possible environmental concerns, as provided for in Article 8 (3);
- improvements to traffic conditions prevailing at the airport in question;
- complaints on the allocation of slots as provided for in Article 11;
- the methods of monitoring the use of allocated slots;
- serious problems encountered by new entrants as provided for in Article 10.
2. Member State representatives and the coordinator shall be invited to the meetings of the coordination committee as observers. At the request of the coordinator, the coordination committee shall discuss suggested local guidelines for the allocation of slots.
3. The coordination committee shall draw up written rules of procedure covering inter alia participation, elections, frequency of meeting, and language(s) used. Any participant in the Coordination Committee may propose local guidelines as provided for in Article 8 (3). A report of the discussions in the Coordination Committee shall be submitted to the Member State concerned with an indication of the respective positions within the Committee.
ARTICLE 6. Coordination parameters - 1. At a coordinated airport the responsible Member State shall ensure the determination of the parameters for slot allocation twice yearly, while taking account of all relevant technical, operational and environmental constraints as well as any changes thereto.
This exercise shall be based on an objective analysis of the possibilities of accommodating the air traffic, taking into account the different types of traffic at the airport, the airspace congestion likely to occur during the coordination period and the capacity situation.
The parameters shall be provided to the airport coordinator in good time before the initial slot allocation takes place for the purpose of scheduling conferences.
2. The coordinator shall define relevant coordination time intervals after consultation of the coordination committee and in the light of the capacity situation.
3. The determination of the parameters and the methodology used as well as any changes thereto shall be discussed in detail with the coordination committee with a view to increasing the number of slots available for allocation, before a final decision on the parameters for slot allocation is taken. All relevant documents shall be made available on request to interested parties.
ARTICLE 7. Information for schedules facilitator and coordinator - 1. Air carriers operating or intending to operate at a schedules facilitated or coordinated airport shall submit to the schedules facilitator or coordinator respectively all relevant information requested by them. All relevant information shall be provided in the format and within the time limit specified by the schedules facilitator or coordinator. In particular, an air carrier shall inform the coordinator, at the time of allocation, whether it would benefit from the status of new entrant, in accordance with article 2 (b), in respect of requested slots. For all other airports this information shall be provided to Eurocontrol.
2. In the event of failure by an air carrier to provide the information referred to in paragraph 1, or of the provision of false or misleading information by an air carrier, the coordinator shall not take into consideration the slot request or requests by that air carrier unless mitigating circumstances exist.
3. The schedules facilitator or the coordinator, the managing body of the airport and the air traffic control authorities including Eurocontrol shall exchange all the necessary information required including flight data and slots for the exercise of their respective duties.
ARTICLE 8. Process of slot allocation - 1 (a) Slots are allocated on the basis of a concession at the expiry of which they have to be returned to the slot pool as set up according to the provisions of Article 10.
(b).Notwithstanding paragraph 1 of this Article and subject to the provisions of Articles 7, 8a, 9, 10 and 14, a slot that has been operated by an air carrier as part of a series of slots cleared by the coordinator shall entitle that air carrier to claim the same slot at the same time as part of a series of slots in the next equivalent scheduling period. Member States may limit such entitlement to series of slots operated with a minimum aircraft size. Such entitlement shall not give rise to any claims for compensation in respect of any limitation, restriction or elimination thereof imposed under Community law.
2. Without prejudice to Article 10.5 (a), in a situation where all slot requests cannot be accommodated to the satisfaction of the air carriers concerned, preference shall be given to commercial air services and in particular to scheduled services and programmed non-scheduled air services. In the case of competing requests within the same category of services, priority shall be given for year round operations.
3. The coordinator shall also take into account additional rules and guidelines established by the air transport industry world-wide as well as local guidelines put forward by the Coordination Committee and approved by Member States, provided that such rules and guidelines comply with Community law and aim at improving the efficient use of airport capacity. These rules shall be communicated to the European Commission.
4. When the priority rules defined in the paragraphs above are not sufficient to decide between competing requests among air carriers intending to operate the same route, the coordinator shall give priority to the air carrier intending to use the series of slots concerned with aircraft of the largest size, in terms of seats for passenger transportation or take-off weight for all-cargo operations. The air carrier having received the series of slots according to this criterion shall operate aircraft of at least the size indicated when the slots were allocated for at least 80% of the time during the period for which they have been allocated and for a period of two equivalent scheduling periods. Otherwise, all the slots constituting the series shall be placed in the slot pool established in Article 10.
5. The coordinator shall, in addition to the planned slot allocation for the scheduling period, endeavour to accommodate single slot requests with short notice for any type of aviation, including general aviation. To this end, remaining slots in the pool referred to in Article 10 after distribution among the applicant carriers and slots available at short notice may be used.
6. In situations where Article 9 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2408/92 is applicable, the coordinator shall not give priority to requests of air carriers intending to use the series of slots concerned for routes where satisfactory service by other means of transport exists.
ARTICLE 8A. Slot mobility - 1. Slots may be:
a) transferred by an air carrier from one route or type of service to another route or type of service operated by that same air carrier,
b) transferred
i) between parent and subsidiary companies,
ii) as part of the acquisition of the majority of the capital of an air carrier, or
iii) in the case of a total or partial take-over when the slots are directly related to the business taken over.
c) exchanged, one for one, between two air carriers where both air carriers involved undertake to use the slots received in the exchange.
2 (a) The right referred to in Article 8 (1) can be transferred between air carriers other than those referred to in Article 8a (1), with or without monetary compensation, provided that no air carrier shall be able, by effecting such transfers, to increase its total number of slots per scheduling period at that airport by more than 5% of the total number of slots available for allocation as determined in accordance with Article 6. Such transfers shall not take place during scheduling conferences. Leasing of slots shall be considered as transfers within the meaning of this paragraph.
(b) At the end of ten equivalent scheduling periods, irrespective of any intervening transfers and/or exchanges, the originally transferred slot in the meaning of subparagraph (a) shall be placed in the pool referred to in Article 10.
(c) Any interested air carrier shall be given the opportunity to take note of such a transfer before it is implemented. To this end, intended transfers shall be communicated to the coordinator prior to their implementation and the coordinator shall keep a freely accessible register of intended slot transfers.
3. At the request of one or more air carriers interested in the transfer of rights under paragraph 2 above, the coordinator shall organise at the airport concerned an auction meeting open to all interested air carriers. It shall be conducted in a transparent, neutral and non-discriminatory manner. The coordinator may limit the number of auction meetings to no more than two by scheduling period.
4. The transfers or exchanges referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 above shall not take effect prior to the express confirmation by the coordinator. In the case of exchanges, the coordinator shall inform the carriers whether the slots involved are subject to a time-limitation. The coordinator shall decline to confirm the transfers or exchanges if they are not in conformity with the requirements of this Regulation, and if not satisfied that:
(a) airport operations would not be prejudiced;
(b) limitations imposed according to Article 9 are respected;
(c) a transfer of slots does not fall within the scope of paragraph 5;
(d) in the case of paragraph 2, no other air carrier is willing to pay more for the right to be transferred;
(e) in the case of exchanges between two air carriers referred to in paragraph 1, both carriers intend to operate the slots resulting from the exchange or from the subsequent exchanges.
5. (a) Slots allocated to a new entrant as defined in Article 2 (b) may not be transferred to another air carrier as provided for in paragraph 2 for a period of three equivalent scheduling periods.
(b) Slots allocated to a new entrant as defined in Article 2 (b) (ii) and (iii) may not be transferred to another route as provided for in paragraph 1 for a period of three equivalent scheduling periods.
6. In the case of joint operations, code-sharing and franchise between air carriers, only one of the participating air carriers can apply for the required slots. The air carrier operating such a service assumes responsibility for meeting the operating criteria required to maintain historical precedence. Slots allocated to one air carrier in the operation may be used by (an) other participating air carrier(s) for their shared operation, provided that the designator code of the air carrier to whom the slots were allocated remains on the shared flight for coordination and monitoring purposes. Upon discontinuation of such operations, the slots so used will remain with the air carrier to whom they were initially allocated. Air carriers involved in shared operations shall advise coordinators of the detail of such operations.
ARTICLE 9. Public Service Obligations - 1. Where public service obligations have been imposed on a route according to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2408/92, a Member State may reserve at a coordinated airport the slots required for the envisaged operations on that route. If the operating carrier does not use the reserved slots on the route concerned in compliance with Article 10 (2) and 10 (4), these slots shall be made available to any other air carrier interested in operating the route according to the public service obligations subject to paragraph 2. If no other carrier is interested in operating the route and the State concerned does not issue a call for tender under Article 4 (1)d of Regulation (EEC) No 2408/92, the slots shall be placed back to the pool.
2. The tender procedure established in Article 4 (1) (d) to (g) and 4 (1) (i) of Regulation (EEC) No 2408/92 shall be applied for the use of the slots referred to in paragraph 1 above if more than one Community air carrier is interested in servicing the route and has not been able to obtain slots within one hour before or after the times requested of the coordinator.
ARTICLE 10. Slot pool - 1. The coordinator shall set up a pool which shall contain all the slots not allocated on the basis of Article 8 (1). All new slot capacity determined pursuant to Article 3 (3) will be placed in the pool.
All pool slots, except for those referred to in Article 8 (5), will be allocated to applicant carriers for a period of ten equivalent scheduling periods. At the end of ten equivalent scheduling periods, irrespective of any intervening transfers and/or exchanges, the original allocated slot shall be placed again in the pool.
2. A series of slots which are allocated to an air carrier for the operation of scheduled and programmed non-scheduled air services shall not entitle that air carrier to the same series of slots in the next equivalent period, unless the air carrier can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the coordinator that they have been operated, as cleared by the coordinator, by that air carrier for at least 80% of the time during the period for which they have been allocated.
3. Slots allocated to an air carrier before 31 January for the following summer season, or before 31 August for the following winter season, but which are returned to the coordinator for reallocation before those dates shall not be taken into account for the purposes of the usage calculation.
4. If the 80% usage of the series of slots cannot be demonstrated, all the slots constituting that series shall be placed in the slot pool, unless the non-utilisation can be justified on the basis of any of the following reasons:
(a) unforeseeable and irresistible cases outside the air carrier's control leading to:
- grounding of the aircraft type generally used for the air service in question;
- closure of an airport or airspace;
(b) an interruption of air services due to action intended to affect these services, which makes it practically and/or technically impossible for the air carrier to carry out operations as planned;
(c) serious financial damage for a Community air carrier concerned, with, as a result, the granting of a temporary license by the licensing authorities pending financial reorganisation of the air carrier in accordance with Article 5(5) of Regulation (EEC) No 2407/92.
5 (a) Without prejudice to Article 8(1) of Regulation (EEC) No 2408/92, slots placed in the pool shall be distributed among applicant air carriers. 50% of these slots shall first be allocated to new entrants unless requests by new entrants are less than 50%. For the purpose of such allocation, the scheduling day shall be divided into equal coordination periods of at most one-hour duration.
Preference shall be given among requests from new entrants to air carriers qualifying for new entrant status under both Article 2 (b) (i) and (ii) or Article 2 (b) (i) and (iii).
(b) Re-timing of series of slots before the allocation of the remaining slots to the other applicant air carriers shall be accepted only for operational reasons due to changes in the type of aircraft used.
6. If a requested slot cannot be accommodated, the coordinator shall inform the requesting air carrier of the reasons therefore and shall indicate the nearest alternative slot.
7. A new entrant which has been offered slots within one hour before or after the time requested but has not accepted this offer shall not retain the new entrant status for that scheduling period.
8. If, less than 5% of the total number of slots available for allocation at a given airport have been allocated to new entrants and if outstanding requests exist from new entrants, the member State shall ensure that a meeting of the airport coordination committee is convened. The purpose of the meeting shall be to examine possibilities for improving the situation including reclaiming of slots and ensuring that at least 5% of the total number of slots will be allocated to new entrants for the next equivalent scheduling period. The Commission shall be invited to such a meeting. The coordinator shall implement measures proposed by the coordination committee to remedy the situation, provided that such measures respect Community law.
If the coordination committee is unable to remedy the situation otherwise, the coordinator shall, upon approval of the Member State responsible for that airport, reclaim from Community air carriers series of slots on a transparent, non-discriminatory and proportionate basis, to be evenly distributed over the coordinated period(s) as defined in paragraph 5 (a) of this Article, so that for the scheduling period in question 5% of the total number of slots will be available for redistribution. The coordinator shall allocate these reclaimed slots to new entrants as defined in Article 2 (b).
The coordinator shall make available upon request all relevant documents, notably those concerning the methodology used for the reclaim and the redistribution of the slots, to interested parties.
ARTICLE 11. Complaints and Right of appeal - 1. In the event of complaints regarding the application of Articles 8, 8a and 10 submitted to the Coordination Committee, it shall within a period of three months following the submission of the complaint consider the matter and if possible make proposals to the coordinator in an attempt to resolve the problems. If the problems cannot be resolved by the Coordination Committee, the member State responsible may within the subsequent three-month period provide for mediation by an air carriers' or airports' representative organisation or other third party.
The Commission shall, regularly and at least once a year, be kept informed by the coordination Committee and by the Member States responsible respectively about such complaints and initiatives taken to resolve them.
2. Member States shall ensure that any party with a legitimate interest has the right to appeal against the decisions of the Coordinator. It must be possible to bring the appeal before a national court or another independent authority».

6. - The title of Article 12 and paragraph 1 are replaced by the following:
«Relations with third countries - 1. Whenever it appears that a third country, with respect to the allocation and use of slots at its airports, 
(a) does not grant Community air carriers treatment comparable to that granted by this Regulation to air carriers from that country, or
(b) does not grant Community air carriers de facto national treatment, or
(c) grants air carriers from other third countries more favourable treatment than Community air carriers,
the Commission may, in accordance with the procedure of Article 13 (2), decide that a Member State or States shall take measures, including the suspension in whole or in part of the application of this Regulation in respect of an air carrier or air carriers of that third country with a view to remedying the discriminatory behaviour of the third country involved».

7. - Articles 13 and 14 are replaced by the following:
«ARTICLE 13. Procedure for decisions - 1. The Commission shall be assisted by a committee, composed of the representatives of the Member States and chaired by the representative of the Commission.
2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, the regulatory procedure laid down in Article 5 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, in compliance with Article 7 (3) and Article 8 thereof in that Article.
3. The period provided for in Article 5 (6) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be three months.
ARTICLE 14. Enforcement - 1. An air carrier's flight plan shall be rejected by the competent Air Traffic Management authorities if it intends to land or take off at a coordinated airport, during the periods for which it is coordinated, without having a slot allocated by the coordinator.
2. The coordinator shall withdraw the slots of an air carrier and place them in the pool on 31 January for the following summer season or on 31 August for the following winter season if the air carrier does not hold an operating licence or equivalent on that date.
3. Air carriers who regularly and intentionally operate air services at a time significantly different from the allocated slot shall not be given the right referred to in Article 8 (1) for the time at which they operate, nor for the slot as scheduled. The coordinator may decide to withdraw the slots of that air carrier for the remainder of the scheduling season and place them in the pool.
4. Further to the measures described in the previous paragraph, Member States may introduce measures to impose fines on air carriers for the regular and intentional operation of air services at a time significantly different from the allocated slot.
5. If the 80% utilisation rate as defined in Article 10(2) and taking into account the exceptions provided in Article 10(4) cannot be achieved by an air carrier, the coordinator may decide to withdraw the slots of that air carrier for the remainder of the scheduling season and place them in the pool. In particular, taking into account the exceptions provided in Article 10(4), if after an allotted time corresponding to 20% of the period of the series validity the slots of this series are still not used, the Coordinator shall place them in the pool».

8. - Article 15 is added:
«ARTICLE 15. Report and co-operation - 1. The Commission shall submit a report to the European Parliament and the Council on the operation of this Regulation at the latest three years after its entry into force. The report shall address in particular the functioning of Articles 8, 8a and 10.
2. Member States and the Commission shall co-operate in the application of this Regulation, particularly as regards the collection of information for the report mentioned in paragraph 1».

ARTICLE 2
This Regulation shall enter into force three months after its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.