The Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union will invite the Member States at the Transport Council of the EU, on Thursday 3 June, to approve a political agreement in principle (‘general approach’) on a number of legislative proposals, in particular, on the implementation of the Single European Sky (see EUROPE 12644/11) and the revision of the regulation establishing the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
Single European Sky. “This is a politically sensitive issue, there have been almost 25 meetings during the Portuguese Presidency. There were long and very detailed discussions. Everyone agrees on the importance of reducing environmental impact and increasing safety. The discussions bore fruit, but not without difficulty. This approach will be a strong basis for further work”, explained a senior diplomat on Tuesday 1 June.
“We expect everything that has been prepared to be accepted”, confirmed a source close to the case.
The text on the implementation of the Single European Sky thus proposes that Member States remain responsible for the performance planning process of air traffic service providers, while the Commission will be responsible for verifying the consistency of performance plans with the objectives set by the EU.
In this respect, a greater flexibility is given to national supervisory authorities, which must remain independent of air navigation service providers.
Furthermore, according to the compromise on the table in the EU Council, these providers will be required to have their principal place of business in a Member State. And they will have to be 50% controlled by Member States or Member State nationals, the text says, with a derogation for certified global satellite service providers already operating in the EU.
The provision of these services must be conditional on the holding of a single certificate and includes financial responsibility and insurance requirements. These points have been included in the draft EASA regulation.
EASA. Regarding the European Aviation Safety Agency, a large majority of national delegations prefer that the Performance Review Body (PRB) remains in an advisory role and is not integrated into the EASA structures.
The Portuguese Presidency of the EU Council has also transformed the economic certificate proposed by the Commission in the amended recast proposal into a set of economic requirements included in the draft amended EASA basic regulation.
See the EU Council’s general approach: https://bit.ly/3uJb8DI
Vehicles hired without drivers. Member States will also vote on the proposal amending the directive (2006/1/EC) on the use of vehicles hired without drivers for the carriage of goods by road (see EUROPE 12663/15).
The amended version of the text specifies that Member States will have to take the necessary measures to ensure that undertakings established on their territory can use hired vehicles for the transport of goods by road under the same conditions as the vehicles they own.
See the EU Council’s general approach: https://bit.ly/3z2tPpB
Recognition of third country certificates. Political agreement is also expected on the proposal amending the Directive on transitional measures for the recognition of third country certificates.
As regards transitional measures for the recognition of these certificates, the legislative text on the table proposes, in particular, that Member States may continue to recognise certificates issued by a third country before 18 January 2024. The Commission had originally planned for a date of 18 January 2023.
The obligation to transpose the amending Directive has been aligned with the previous Directive, thus not creating an additional administrative burden to the obligations of the Member States.
See the EU Council’s general approach: https://bit.ly/3fYp1bX
Sustainable mobility. Lastly, Member States will also be asked to endorse the conclusions on the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy that the European Commission presented at the end of 2020 (see EUROPE 12619/12). (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)