EU: Brussels is stepping up demands for a blacklist of airlines with unsatisfactory safety records, following crashes this month off Italy, in Greece and in Venezuela which have revived concerns about aircraft safety.
Jacques Barrot, the European Union's transport commissioner, told French radio yesterday he hoped such a list would be made available soon on the internet.
Separately, France is considering the introduction of a new system of safety labels that could be used in advertising.
Europe has been under pressure to improve its aircraft safety legislation since early 2004, when a charter aircraft owned by Flash Airlines crashed in the Red Sea, killing 148 people, mostly French tourists.
That crash highlighted the lack of co-ordination among governments about sharing safety information, since it then emerged that Flash had been banned by the Swiss aviation authorities.
However, Mr Barrot's blacklist proposal, tabled last February, still requires approval from EU member states and the European parliament.
A commission spokesman said yesterday: "With all these accidents, we hope this will push things forward a bit."
The call for action was echoed by French transport minister Dominique Perben, who said: "We must manage to set up what they call a 'blacklist' of airline companies.
"Obviously we need the agreement of all 25 member states. I'm pushing hard, like Jacques Barrot, like Germany, like Italy, like Britain."
Brussels is concerned about foot-dragging by member states on aviation safety policy.
Governments had until last month to implement new EU rules on reporting safety problems. However, a commission official said yesterday only eight of the 25 member states had notified Brussels they had implemented those rules.
The aircraft that crashed in western Venezuela was carrying tourists to the French island of Martinique and was operated by the privately owned airline West Caribbean, whose safety record is now under close analysis from investigators.
However, Mr Perben confirmed this week that the aircraft had passed two inspections while on French soil.
EU member states retain sole responsibility for airline safety and decisions about whether to ground a carrier.
However, Brussels has been asked to intervene in some disputes, notably last May when Turkey was angered about a decision by some European governments, led by the Netherlands, to withdraw temporarily the landing rights of Onur Air, a budget Turkish airline, on safety grounds.
Separately, Greece is under pressure to make progress in its investigation of the crash of the Helios Airways aircraft that was flying from Larnaca in Cyprus.