A Motion on Donated Aircraft, 2020
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May I request that Coun. Firoux change the number of aircraft in this motion to 39, again I want to clarify that only 39 Airbus A340-400X are donated by the URR to the EU.
Friedrich van Allen
Councilor, United Reichs of Reitzmag -
I fourth the motion and I'm extremly pleased with Cllr. Firoux on bringing it into the European Council. It's important to emphasise on the fact that this airplanes will be used for humanitary purposes, and that brings up the real values of the European Union, those that I love to defend. I would like to announce to Councillor Rousselot that the Spanish Government is aware of the urgent need of helping with the refugees from Drommund Kaas, and we would like to join the agreedment made with Angleter, so we can give a second chance to those that have lost everything on their country.
My predecesor used to come here by plane, but that plane was a special plane prepared to transport goverment members or Councillor Rodríguez. Since I was elected, I've carried on with coming by plane, but I don't use a private jet. I come on the company that offers me the best timetable. Sometimes is British Airways, or Air Europa, or Iberia... And always in Economy class. It's always an interesting experience to find other people that ask you about your job on the European Union, they give you their thoughts about the current situtation. As I see you love Ibiza so much, I must invite you to come whenever you want to.
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The central premise to the motion is a good one, however I believe that due to the nature of the A340 being a commercially designed aircraft meant to operate under very very pristine conditions we should instead sell off some of or all of the aircraft apparently being gifted to the EU.
The ERF is meant for quick action responses to devastated areas, areas which more often than not might not have a suitable run way or infrastructure to support an A340. I propose instead that the ERF look into buying second hand tactical airlifts from EU Member-states such as the DU with it's C-130 or C-17 aircraft. These aircraft would greatly increase the airlift capacity and more easily modulated for whatever mission the ERF needs to take on. These aircraft were custom ordered for government VIPs such as apparently EU Councillors, at least according to URR press releases. That will require thousands of man hours and millions of dollars to convert them to a proper humanitarian supporting aircraft.
Another thing not being mentioned by my fellow Cllrs is the maintenance cost of an A340, especially brand new aircraft is relatively high while the infrastructure to support them is implemented in the ERF. Decades proven C-130s or A400M, or C-17s would be a vastly better investment.
Councillor Carita Falk
Archrepublic of Vayinaod -
I would like to propose the following amendment:
A Motion on Donated Aircraft (2020)
I. The European Council shall transfer all
4039 of the recently donated aircraft from the United Reichs of Reitzmag from the possession of all Councillors to the ownership of the European Relief Force.
II. All4039 of the recently donated aircraft may not be used for the private transportation of Councillors, and must instead be used exclusively by the European Relief Force in their humanitarian endeavors.
III. The European Relief Force shall work with the European Aviation Agency to sell all or part of the newly donated fleet. Said funds created shall be used to establish the logistical capability for a fleet of tactical and strategic airlifts more suited for the role of the European Relief Force.
IV. Any additional funds still available shall be rolled into the European Union budget for the European Relief Force.
V. The European Relief Force may charter these newly donated aircraft to private operators as a way to generate additional revenue. -
Amendments seconded.
Marion Rousselot
Deputy Speaker of the European Council
Councillor for the Kingdom of Gallorum -
Due to the proposed amendment, I will extend debate for a further 48 hours, until 06:30 GMT, March 4th 2020.
I am strongly opposed to this amendment for several reasons.
Firstly, I'm hoping that the Councillor of Reitzmag will, in good faith, have their aircraft donated with the rest of the 39. No Councillor needs their own aircraft.
Secondly, as it has now already been made clear, the aircraft were apparently created in order to be used for humanitarian purposes anyway and the government of Reitzmag has generously offered to retrofit the aircraft so that they can be used appropriately for humanitarian work.
Thirdly, we currently do not have an up-to-date budget. We have absolutely no idea or guarantee that we could feasibly create such the capabilities that have been outlined in the amendment, or if we could sufficiently cover the costs of those capabilities. Hell, we do don't even have a budget for the ERF, period. Hence, it's better that we accept these aircraft instead of dreaming about selling them and coming up with future projects in which we have no idea about the feasibility of the matter.
Lastly, I am totally stunned by the suggestion that it would be appropriate for the European Relief Force to charter aircraft to private operators for revenue purposes. The ERF is an emergency and humanitarian organization, and it does not and should not ever work for profit. I am shocked by this.
To be honest, I'm all around appalled by the amendment. It's already been enough of a circus that each Councilor got their own aircraft, but now we're apparently going to go into the business of selling them too. The government of Reitzmag has already offered to pay the costs to have the aircraft re-done for humanitarian work, so we don't need to go off now on selling and buying new aircraft when we don't even know what the budget situation is. The situation being presented is fine. Not only would this amendment continue the ongoing circus act, but the act of turning the ERF into an organization which would offer charter fights for private operators would extend the circus act and turn out entire ERF into a mockery in the process. I can just imagine the headlines now:
"Boujee and Spoiled European Councillors Get Their Own Airplanes"
"Corrupt Councillor Sell Gifted Aircraft and Buy New Ones for Who Knows the Cost"
"The European Relief Force Now Chartering Flights - Fly the Skies with Authentic Refugees for less than $100"I'm giving this amendment a very hard no from me.
Edward Firoux
Council Speaker and Councillor for Inquista -
Let me begin my statement by saying I took part in a mistranslation, and now believe that the word charter is not the appropriate word but rather lease agreement. I believe it was also an error to just lump these two different topics in one amendment. Those were all my errors and mine alone.
Before I present my two new amendments, and withdraw my previous one I would like to address the comments made by the Speaker.
To start with, Reitzmag has yet to donate this final aircraft to the European Union, and has repeatedly through their councillor request that this aircraft not be covered in this motion multiple times. Noting the nation would donate the aircraft if some Eurostar project is completed. Regardless, the EU only controls 39 aircraft at the moment, and should therefore only legislate on those 39.
Secondly, I may not be some aerospace engineer, but VIP transport and whatever needs the ERF might require are two very very situations. Sure they can just be used to ferry refugees and light cargo, but an A340-300 which is what was ordered are not type rated for the very situations that the EU would need its own relief logistic capabilities. If these A340-300s can get somewhere, chances are so can more readily available commercial air freight operators.
The A340-300 or any variant of the A340 is not type rated for sole freight use. There has never been an actually built conversion for these operations. It is not a simple overnight retrofit, its not an oh just move some seats there. Its a complete redesign of the airframe. Also Airbus still says there is a cost to retrofitting these aircraft for a job they should not be doing whatsoever. If you wish to bring up headlines Mr. Speaker here is one:
"Multi-billion dollar ERF fleet unable to get aid to refugees!"
"ERF planes fly empty unable to carry more supplies, should have made a better deal!"
"ERF's planes can't land where needed! Sad!"
A cost that the URR specifically did not say they would cover, and one only supposedly described by Airbus as low.
We do not even know what kind of aircraft is being donated, the press release initial lists them as Airbus A340-300s, a relatively inefficient unreliably aircraft. Now the Councillor for the URR describes them as A340-400Xs, a variant not known to be described to or released to the public.
((((OOC: I should note that Airbus belongs to the French/Spain/UK/German producers slot only which two are filled right now by Gallorum and Angleter. Obviously Airbus has a commercial sector, but its pretty closely connected with its defense sector in terms of development and research. So I do not know if we can even consider comments made by Airbus without consultation with Gallorum or Angleter as canon.)))
This circus will continue as long as these aircraft remain in our possession. The Speaker wishes to talk about us not have a real budget so far, alright then. Where is the money to move these aircraft to new parking locations? Upkeep them while they sit around? Do we really even need 39 of them to begin with? Most commercial freight operators do not even have that many besides the giants. Maintenance on the A340 will be a nightmare considering its history of engine issues, not to mention building up an entire infrastructure of staff, facilities etc. to house them.
It costs 12,600 Euros per flight hour for an Airbus A340 to operate, but that is under commercial schedules. These aircraft will be sitting around much of the time driving up costs substantially. We should either invest in a smaller fleet of C-130J Super Hercules or A400M aircraft, which are far more suited to the mission of the ERF, and of which we can purchase second hand. Using these aircraft will also allow the ERF to integrate with military forces assisting with relief operations more easily. Most of the time you are not moving people as a relief operation, that is secondary to the supplies needed for the region. The C-130J or the A400M can be modified for passenger only flights or a mix of both. I wish to stress that no where in my amendment does it necesitate buying brand new aircraft, and that the ERF would be open to purchasing second hand aircraft for far cheaper. The extra money from selling brand new A340s would likely keep the program going for quite a few years on its own.
That or we should sell them all outright. It should be up to the ERF really. The Speaker wishes to just throw these aircraft to the ERF and hope the issue goes away. It. Will. Not. They will pile up over and over with issues, budget constraints etc.
Now its not going to be easy to sell these A340s, and if some end up sitting it will only cost the European Union money to keep them park. I advocate on allowing these aircraft to be leased to private operators. No European Union branding or support etc. just a plane for use if they do not wish to buy it. You are right they should not work for profit, but as a Speaker who wishes to bring up the budget, aircraft sitting around will only burn a hole through the Union's budget.
Now, I will withdraw my previous amendment and present these two new ones.
Amendment 1:
I. The European Council shall transfer all4039 of the recently donated aircraft from the United Reichs of Reitzmag from the possession of all Councillors to the ownership of the European Relief Force.
II. All4039 of the recently donated aircraft may not be used for the private transportation of Councillors, and must instead be used exclusively by the European Relief Force in their humanitarian endeavors.
III. The European Relief Force shall work with the European Aviation Agency to sell all or part of the newly donated fleet. Said funds created shall be used to establish the logistical capability for a fleet of tactical and strategic airlifts more suited for the role of the European Relief Force. The European Relief Force shall have a period of two years to sell some or all of the newly donated aircraft.
IV. Any additional funds still available shall be rolled into the European Union budget for the European Relief Force.Amendment 2:
V. The European Relief Force may lease these newly donated aircraft to private operators as a way to generate additional revenue. This is not intended as a long term solution, and only as a short term solution to avoid budgetary issues should they arise.
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Dear European Council,
I write this letter to address my comments on the recent happenings in the council while I and Coun. Tusk are on a summit here at Victoria city. During my absence, Dep. Coun. Yuridiana Yahontov will take over my seat when council sessions open.
Firstly, I agree to all Coun. Falk's amendments on this motion that Spkr. Firoux had submitted regarding the 39 A340-400X aircraft donated by HM George I to the EU. It is true that I have released a statement regarding the aircraft that the government lets me borrow. We have also gave warnings to CBC News Europe to ensure that they give only factual information and much specific data. In response to this, CBC News had promised to fulfill its duty on freedom of speech.
I also suggest that setting these aircraft for auction to private companies or individuals interested in acquiring aircraft. This would easily help the EU gain extra reserve funds for emergencies. This would also help in distributing the aircraft as a key objective of this motion.Friedrich van Allen
Councilor, United Reichs of ReitzmagYuridiana Yahontov
Deputy Councilor, United Reichs of Reitzmag -
Voting on amendments begins NOW and closes at 08:30 February 7th, 2020.
I vote AGAINST all of Councillor Falk's amendments.
Edward Firoux
Council Speaker and Councillor for Inquista -
Dear European Council,
During my absence on this Council Session for a proposal entitled "A Motion on Donated Aircraft, 2020". I show participation via this telegram wired through Dep. Coun. Yuridiana Yahontov. After the declaration of opening of votes on amendments therefor:
I vote FOR Amendment 1 of Coun. Falk
Friedrich van Allen
Councilor, United Reichs of ReitzmagYuridiana Yahontov
Deputy Councilor, United Reichs of Reitzmag -
I vote FOR all of Councillor Falk's admendments.
Donald Tusk
Councillor for Spain -
I vote for my first amendment.
I abstain on my second amendment.
Carita Falk
Archrepublic of Vayinaod -
On behalf of the United Provinces of Ireland, we record a vote of NO on both amendments
Councillor Elizabeth Warren
Councillor for the United Provinces of Ireland -
I vote FOR both amendments.
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With 4 votes for and 2 against, Amendment I has PASSED. With 2 votes for and 2 against, Amendment II has FAILED.
After reflecting upon the amendment that has been passed - which has effectively poison pilled my own motion - I hereby withdraw my motion from the Council's consideration.
Edward Firoux
Council Speaker and Councillor for Inquista
The Kingdom of Spain
