Shannon Airport had a claim to be an EU western gateway under a spatial plan for Europe, a business consultant told senior members of the EU Committee of the Regions at a meeting in Co Clare this weekend.

Dr Con Power, a former director of economic policy with IBEC, said a plan in terms of a spatial strategy and designating specialised functions for specific geographic locations within member states could be effected in the context of a more cohesive EU.

A common approach to transport networks had already been taken and Shannon Airport's future was "within the corpus of evolving EU policy", rather than the narrower Irish context.

The policy challenge for Shannon and the Committee of the Regions was to agree on a shared vision for Shannon, to research it, and to implement an agreed outcome.

The meeting in Shannon, organised by the Shannon Airport lobby group, Signal, was attended by both the president and secretary general of the Committee of the Regions, which provides a forum for local and regional governments.

The committee's president, Mr Joseph Chabert, said that while there was an agreed strategy on motorways it was not the EU's intention to legally designate specific areas for particular transport purposes. But airport development was constrained in places such as Frankfurt and Brussels.

"This is typically something which European countries and regions can discuss together," he said.

Mr Declan Power of Aer Rianta said the airport had the lowest airport charge structure in Europe, which had not increased in 23 years.