On Tuesday 22 October, the European Parliament approved the provisional agreement with the EU Council on the ‘Single European Sky’ (see EUROPE 13503/18).
Informally adopted last March by negotiators from the EU Council, the Belgian Presidency and the European Parliament (see EUROPE 13387/33), the text strengthens national performance plans for air navigation services and will help to improve the management of EU airspace. These plans will include binding targets and incentives to make flights more efficient and environmentally friendly.
“The reform is a step forward in removing bottlenecks, creating more efficient air traffic control and management, and reducing costs and emissions through shorter and safer flights”, said co-rapporteur Jens Gieseke (EPP, German) in a press release. “The creation of a truly single European airspace, however, has been blocked by member states, unwilling to give up national powers for the greater good”, he nevertheless deplored. He called on the Member States to implement this reform “constructively”.
“Even if these changes are not as significant as we would have liked, we are still moving in the right direction: we can improve supervision, which will be decisive in ensuring that European rules are complied with”, stressed co-rapporteur Johan Danielsson (S&D, Swedish) during the debate the previous day. “The Single European Sky could make a real contribution to reducing CO2 emissions by up to 10% per flight. It’s an important step towards making flights and air transport more sustainable”, he added.
The EU Council approved the new rules on Thursday 26 September. They will come into force 20 days after their publication in the Official Journal of the EU. While most of the provisions will apply from that date, other provisions, such as sanctions for breaches of the new rules or the independence of national supervisory authorities, will not take effect until two years later.
Read the text: https://aeur.eu/f/dzl (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)