The European Commission is working closely together with the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (EUROCONTROL) to achieve the objectives of the Single European Sky Initiative.
Over the last decade, several elements of the Eurocontrol regime, such as the charging and performance review and the common air traffic flow management system, have been successfully enhanced under EU law. As a result, Eurocontrol performs tasks now under the SES legislation. Starting from 2010, the organisation has been charged with four major tasks/roles:
- technical support to the European Commission and EASA for assisting them in their regulatory actions;
- the Performance Review Body to assist the Commission in the development and implementation of the performance scheme (designation by the Commission until 2016);
- the Network Manager for the ATM Network functions (designation by the Commission until 2019);
- furthermore, Eurocontrol plays an important role in the SESAR Joint Undertaking's activities as a founding member together with the EU (since 2007).
In December 2012, a High Level Agreement (HLA) was signed which recognises the contribution that each organisation can make to European ATM. The respective roles of the EU as single pan-European regulator and that of Eurocontrol in technical support of the achievement of the objectives of the SES policy were reaffirmed in this agreement.
The European Union will become a member of EUROCONTROL. Currently the Union’s membership is being implemented on a provisional basis to enable the Union's participation in Eurocontrol governing bodies. Full membership will be realised when all EUROCONTROL member states have ratified the protocol on the accession of the European Union to the EUROCONTROL convention.
Legislation
Policy and other related documents