CANSO SECRETARY GENERAL WARNS “WITHOUT POLITICAL WILL THERE WILL BE NO SINGLE EUROPEAN SKY”
23 January 2008
- Unless European policy makers show leadership, “fragmented skies will remain a certainty”
CANSO Secretary General Alexander ter Kuile, in a speech to Europe’s aviation policy makers yesterday, called for greater political will at national level to address complex cross-border airspace design issues, as without it, the goal of a Single European Sky (SES) is unlikely to become a reality.
Reviewing his comments to the summit of aviation and EU regulators in Brussels, Mr ter Kuile said:
“Good industry performance starts with good policy making. Thus far, SES regulations have not addressed key domestic policy and ANSP governance issues, which under subsidiarity principles, remain the prerogative of Member States. If European aviation policy-making continues to be disjointed between national and regional ambitions, fragmented skies will remain a certainty. Without full political support at the national level there will be no Single European Sky.
CANSO supports the aim that States should develop a consistent set of expectations for the performance of ANSPs across Europe, but this will only be successful if it is preceded by consistent ANSP governance structures, empowered management, incentivised performance, strong customer relations, and performance measurement. If states maintain the existing governance structures, while putting new economic regulation in place, Europe will continue to see variation in service provision.
CANSO strongly believes that ATM performance is obtained by governments taking an arms length approach, letting ANSPs be equal players in today’s liberalised aviation system in which airlines, airports and ANSPs jointly seek the best solution for the system as a whole.
CANSO members continue to support SES, and we commend VP Barrot for making SES a key deliverable in 2008, but we recognise that without a clear national political desire, it will not happen.”
ENDS
NOTES:
- The Single European Sky (SES) is an EU initiative to harmonise European airspace and to standardise European air traffic management.
- The High Level Group (HLG) was a committee set up by European Commission Vice President Barrot, to advise him on SES and the possible steps needed to support its implementation. The HLG report contains ten recommendations on how SES may be effectively progressed.
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