B4-0272, 0295 and 0317/99

Resolution on the disaster in Cermis (Italy) and the verdict of the United States court-martial

The European Parliament,

- having regard to its resolution of 19 February 1998 on the tragedy at Monte Cermis ((OJ C 80, 16.3.1998, p. 247.)) caused by the severing on 3 February 1998 of the cables of a ski-lift by a US military aircraft, killing 20 people of Italian, Belgian, German, Austrian, Dutch and Polish nationality,

A. whereas, in a verdict delivered by the court-martial in Camp Lejeune in the United States, the pilot of the aircraft was cleared of the charges levelled against him,

B. whereas the inquiry by the Italian judicial authorities had clearly shown that the rules of aviation had been violated, causing the disaster,

C. whereas the pilot and crew of the US military aircraft were tried by an American court-martial on the basis of the 1951 London Convention between the NATO member states on the status of their armed forces, enabling the country to which the military personnel belong to have full jurisdiction in criminal and disciplinary proceedings,

D. whereas the President of the United States had personally pledged to ensure that responsibility was assigned and compensation paid to the families of the victims,

1. Expresses its concern at a judgment which, in the way that it was formulated, has failed to assign any responsibility for a disaster that claimed 20 civilian lives and has been judged unacceptable by the victims' families;

2. Calls for the United States authorities to make use of all available judicial and administrative procedures to continue and complete the inquiry into the disaster in order to assign direct and indirect responsibility for it and ensure that the families of the victims are fairly compensated;

3. Notes the statement by the President of the United States on the judgment clearing the pilot of all charges and calls for the United States Administration to provide the victims' families with compensation without further delay;

4. Calls on the EU Member States that are members of NATO to encourage the taking of coordinated measures to revise the London Convention in order to ensure that responsibility for incidents or violations of the law brought about by NATO armed forces stationed in various countries is properly determined;

5. Calls on the Council and Commission, in conjunction with the governments of the Member States concerned, to promote the adoption of a Joint Action aimed at improving the safety conditions governing military training activities in the air or on the ground in areas inhabited by civilian populations;

6. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the governments and parliaments of Austria, Belgium, Germany, Holland, Italy and Poland, the President of the United States and the Secretary-General of NATO.