Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. Accelerating the implementation of the single European sky

The European aviation industry plays a vital role in the European economy, by promoting trade and tourism and acting as a vehicle for employment growth. Air traffic control is a key factor in the value chain of the aviation industry. It should ensure the safe, expeditious and cost-efficient flow of air traffic thereby minimising fuel usage, carbon emissions and flying times.

However, European air navigation services have historically evolved primarily within national borders, with each Member State establishing its own Air Traffic Management (ATM) system leading to costly and inefficient structural fragmentation of the Europe's airspace and a persistent lack of responsiveness to the requirements of its customers – the airlines, and ultimately, the paying customers.

In 2004, the EU launched the Single European Sky (SES) initiative with a threefold objective: "to enhance current air traffic safety standards, to contribute to the sustainable development of the air transport system and to improve the overall performance of the European ATM system and air navigation services". The commitment to these objectives was further enforced by formulating high level goals to be achieved by 2020. A major project to modernise the technology behind the European ATM system was launched in 2007 (the SESAR project). 2009 saw the addition of additional concrete tools to drive performance and steer the reform of the European ATM system: a revised approach to stimulate integrated service provision, a process of target-setting for performance objectives and the establishment of the Network Manager to coordinate action at the European network level. A five-tier approach was finally devised to cover the various aspects of SES: safety, performance, technology, airports and human factor

The achievement of the SES is one of the key priorities of the European Commission's overall transport policy. But although all Member States remain committed to the SES, implementation still falls well below the original expectations, and accelerating the process of reform of the European ATM system through a new package of measures was identified in 2012 as a key action for the development of the Single Market. Air traffic delays have been reduced (partly as a consequence of the financial crisis which has reduced air traffic in Europe). But while safety levels have been constantly maintained, cost-efficiency has not improved quickly enough, and the environmental impact of sub-optimal flight profiles remains significant. At a time when European airlines are facing tough competition globally and aviation growth is shifting towards the Middle East and Asia-Pacific regions, it is hard to ignore the untapped potential gains of the SES, amounting to €5 billion per year. The faster the Single European Sky is implemented, the quicker the expected returns will materialise.

The latest forecast indicates there will be 14.4 million flights by 2035 in Europe, 50% more than in 2012. Air traffic growth will put a strain on ATM capacity and exacerbate the misalignment between ATM capacity and airport throughput where nearly two million flights would not be accommodated because of airport capacity shortfalls.

The implementation of the SES and associated reform of the European ATM system must be accelerated, helping our airspace users in a tough global competitive environment, and facilitating future economic growth. So the Commission, building on the experience of the SES so far, is proposing a carefully targeted further legislative proposal to facilitate early implementation of the SES, a legislative package consisting of the recast of the four regulations creating the Single European Sky and the amendment of the regulation establishing the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

• Primary Source

EUR-Lex: COM(2013)408: Follow the progress of this communication through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2013:408:FIN

ESO: Background Information: Single Sky: Commission acts to unblock congestion in Europe's airspace http://www.europeansources.info/record/press-release-single-sky-commission-acts-to-unblock-congestion-in-europes-airspace/

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