EU and EUROCONTROL sign agreement on enhanced cooperation

On the sidelines of the Transport Council meeting , the European Union and the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (EUROCONTROL) signed an agreement establishing a new and stable framework for enhanced cooperation (13792/12).
The agreement, which lists the areas of cooperation and defines the forms and mechanisms of cooperation, confirms EUROCONTROL as the technical and operational arm of the EU in the development and implementation of its Single European Sky (SES) programme, while positioning the EU as the regulator of this programme.

It also provides a framework for civil-military coordination of air traffic management and for pan-European coordination beyond the EU borders. Moreover, it will enable the EU to contribute to the ongoing reform of EUROCONTROL's governance structure.

In addition, the agreement aims to ensure synergies with, and avoid duplication of, the work of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in safety-related air traffic management matters and environmental issues.

EUROCONTROL is a civil-military intergovernmental organisation with 39 contracting parties from all over Europe, including all EU member states except Estonia. It plays a pivotal role in air traffic management (ATM) in Europe and provides expertise and technical assistance to the EU in this field.
Last year, EUROCONTROL was nominated as ATM network manager for the Single European Sky programme, which is designed to establish a safe and efficient air traffic management system at European level on the basis of a legal framework adopted in 2004 and 2009.