During a conference organised by the Aerospace, Security and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD) on Tuesday, 2 December, European Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism Apóstolos Tzitzikóstas announced that he was taking very serious look at the idea of a European strategy for aeronautics and aviation (see other news).
“I believe that, indeed, it is the time now for the European Union to review its position towards its aeronautics and aviation industries and the airlines”, he added.
ASD has just presented its “European Industrial Strategy for Civil Aeronautics”, a comprehensive action plan designed to “[urge] EU institutions and Member States to recognize civil aeronautics as a strategic sector and to act”. It hopes to keep Europe at the forefront of aviation while enabling the transition to carbon-neutral flight by 2050.
It has therefore defined nine pillars for action: recognising civil aeronautics as a strategic sector, accelerating innovation and doubling research funding, strengthening the industrial base and the resilience of the supply chain, modernising air traffic management, supporting the decarbonisation of civil aviation, simplifying and cutting back regulations, pursuing and strengthening international cooperation, meeting the growing challenge with regard to skills, and strengthening cooperation among institutions, agencies, Member States, and industry to maintain global leadership.
At a press conference, ASD President Micael Johansson emphasised the difficulties that the industry is coming up against—namely the difficulties with high energy costs, the management of critical raw materials, and the urgent need for skilled labour. He believes, “These are things that will not just sort of go away, [which is why] we need support from [not only] the proper regulations but also from working with the Commission on many things regarding sustainability”.
The commissioner also mentioned global competition in emerging aerospace segments, such as drones and vertical take-off and landing aircraft with next-generation propulsion systems. “Ensuring that European innovation, however, reaches industrial scale quickly is essential if we are to secure our place in the global market”, he asserted. In his view, this could be achieved by “turning a technological challenge into a competitive advantage”.
Read the strategy: https://aeur.eu/f/jsw (Original version in French by Anne Damiani with Camille-Cerise Gessant)