European Union reaches an agreement to unblock the major air traffic reform

The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union today reached a provisional agreement to reform air traffic in the community space, a file known as the Single European Sky that had been blocked for decades and whose objective is to improve efficiency and reduce costs and CO2 emissions.

The provisional agreement still has to be formally adopted by the Council of the EU and by the plenary session of the European Parliament to make it official.

“It will allow progress in reducing CO2 emissions from the aviation sector and will also give Member States more tools to limit the nuisance generated by aeronautical activity,” declared the Belgian Minister of Mobility, Georges Gilkinet, on behalf of the current presidency of the Council of the EU.

The Belgian minister added, however, that there is still “a lot to do to help the sector achieve carbon neutrality.”

The reform of air traffic Its main objective is to reduce CO2 emissions from a sector responsible for around 4% of the carbon dioxide released by the European Union.

According to the provisional agreement, “mandatory modulation of en-route fares will be introduced to incentivize airspace users to support improvements in climate and environmental performance, such as using the most efficient route in terms of available fuel or increasing of the use of alternative clean propulsion technologies.

Before, a “cost-benefit analysis” will be carried out to determine that said modulation “is feasible and presents added value.”

The agreement also provides that each country designate a supervisory body to “evaluate the compliance of air navigation service providers with economic requirements, such as financial sustainability and the organizational structure”, in cooperation with the national authority in charge of the certification of air navigation service providers, the Council reported in a statement.

The agency and the national authority may be part of the same organization “as long as they are functionally separated and meet the requirements of independence,” and their functions may be merged into the same administrative authority to reduce bureaucracy and adapt to “existing organizational models.” ”.

Another point of the pact is that countries will be able to “authorize the opening of certain air navigation services under market conditions.”

National supervisors and European Comission They will jointly evaluate the performance of air navigation services, according to an agreement that also foresees Eurocontrol taking on new functions and additional tasks, “clearly delimited so that it can better contribute to the sustainable and efficient use of airspace.”

The agreed legislative package, specifically, consists of “a modified proposal for the recast of the Single European Sky regulation (SES 2+) and a proposal for a regulation amending the basic regulation of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)”, the Council specified.

“The new regulations pave the way to improve the climate and environmental performance of airspace management, especially through the extension of binding objectives for terminal services in the environmental and climate area and the modulation of tariffs to incentivize the improvement of the environmental performance by airspace users”, he added.

The European Commission has indicated that it is studying the agreement, as has the European aviation association, Airlines for Europe (A4E), which said it was still “digesting” the pact, but which made a relatively negative initial assessment.

“We have been consistent in calling for a Single European Sky that delivers for airlines, passengers and the planet. At first glance, it seems that this agreement is still far from being achieved,” A4E managing director Ourania Georgoutsakou said in a statement.

The employers’ association added that this “will not be the end” of its efforts to achieve “a truly unique, digital, Single European Sky that reduces delays, improves efficiency and reduces carbon emissions.”