25.1.93 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoC19/39
OpinionontheproposalforaCouncilDirectiveontheDefinitionandUseofCompatible
TechnicalandOperatingSpecificationsfortheProcurementofAirTrafficManagement
EquipmentandSystems
(93/C19/13)
TheCouncildecidedon14August1992,inaccordancewithArticle84(2)oftheEECTreaty,
toasktheEconomicandSocialCommitteeforanOpinionontheabovementioned proposal.
TheSectionforTransportandCommunications ,whichwasresponsibleforthepreparatory
work,adopteditsOpinionon18November1992.TheRapporteurwasMrSchmidt.
Atits301stPlenarySession(meetingof24November1992)theEconomicandSocial
CommitteeadoptedthefollowingOpinionunanimously .
1.Introduction couldacceleratetheimplementation ofthemeasureson
nationallevel.
1.1.TheinitiativeoftheCommission oftheEuro­
peanCommunitiestosupporttheharmonization ofair
trafficmanagement (ATM)systemsinEuropeisin
principlesupported.Theobjectiveoftheproposed
directiveisinlinewiththeproposalsmadebythe
airspaceusers,e.g.aslaiddowninthestudy'TheCrisis
ofEuropeanAirTrafficControl'byPlanungsbiiro
Luftraumnutzer /Wilmer,Cutler&Pickering1989.1.5.ECACTransportMinistersandCommissioner
VanMiertagreedattheirmeetingon17March1992
tolaydownanagreementbetweentheCommission
andEurocontrolrelatedtothedivisionofcompetences
betweenbothorganizations .TheproposalforaCouncil
Directiveisdeemedtobetoolimitedtoreplacesuch
anagreementwhichshouldencompassalltherelevant
areas.Itshouldbeemphasizedthatairtrafficmanage­
mentisnotregardedasanareaforwhichtheprinciple
ofsubsidiaritywouldapply.Onthecontrary,thereis
commonagreementthatthecurrentproblemsofair
trafficmanagementinEuropemayonlybesolvedona
Pan-European level.1.2.Theharmonization ofATMsystemsisregarded
asaninterimsteptowardsanintegratedEuropean
ATMsystem.Thisshouldfinallyleadtowardsthe
implementation ofauniformEuropeanATMsystem
takingaccountoffuturedemandandtheoperational
requirementsoftheairspaceusers.
2.Generalremarks
1.3.TheECACStrategyforthe1990'sandtheEuro­
peanAirTrafficControlHarmonization andInte­
grationProgramme (EATCHIP),derivedfromthat
strategy,formthewidelyacceptedbasisfortheshort­
andmedium-termdevelopmentofairtrafficmanage­
mentinEurope.ECAChascommissionedEurocontrol
withthedevelopmentofindividualmeasureswithinthe
frameworkofEATCHIP .Thisincludesthedevelop­
mentofstandards,recommendations andcommon
technicalandoperationalspecifications intherelevant
areas.However,theimplementation ofthesemeasures
remainssolelywithintheresponsibilityoftheindividual
MemberStates.2.1.TheCommission'sdocumentpointsoutthat
thereareseveralfactorswhichcombinetolimitthe
capacityofair-trafficcontrolsystem,e.g.,theschedul­
ingforequipmentandstaffofsomeairlines.Thisview
cannotbeshared.Theservicesofferedbytheairlines
areprimarilydeterminedbydemand.Anoptimaluse
oftheresourcesofanairline,asitisreflectedby
schedulingforequipmentandstaff,isaprerequisitein
ordertomaintainthecompetitiveness ofanairline.
Therefore,thecapacityoftheinfrastructure ,i.e.air­
portsandairtrafficmanagement ,shouldbeadapted
totherequirementsderivedfromtheschedulesofthe
carrierstotheextentpossibleintermsofcost.
1.4.TheproposedCouncilDirectivesupportsthe
objectiveslaiddownintheECACStrategybymaking
thestandardsandcommonspecificationsdevelopedor
tobedevelopedbyEurocontrollegallybindingforEC
MemberStates.ThedecisionsofEurocontrol inthis
areawouldthushavethesamestatusasEC-law.This2.2.TheCommitteenotesthatgreatercompatibility
wouldreducecostsandthatcommonspecificationsfor
equipmentwouldclearlybenefitEuropeanindustrial­
ists.Howeveritremainsunclearhowthesebenefitsare
derivedunlessthespecificationswouldbeassuchthat
onlyEuropeanindustrycouldcomplywiththem.This

NoC19/40 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 25.1.93
howeverwouldrestrictcompetitionandmayleadto
anincreaseofcost.
2.2.1.Thecompetitiveness oftheEuropeanindustry
couldbeaugmentedbyCommunityfundingofrelated
researchanddevelopmentprogrammes .
2.2.2.Fortheairspaceusers,itisofnoimportance
whetherATMsystemsorcomponentsthereofare
developedandmanufactured inEuropeorelsewhere.
TheprocurementofATCequipmentshouldbebased
onasystematicandtransparentcost-benefitanalysis
takingintoaccountcostsandbenefitsforthesystem­
providersaswellasfortheairspaceusers.
2.3.TheCommitteebelievesthatthedirectiveis
intendedtohelpestablishahighlevelofsafetyin
Communityairspace.Thisdoesnotmeanthatthe
currentsafetylevelinairtransportisinsufficient .The
viewoftheCommitteeonthisisthatthecapacityof
theATCsystemsshouldbeincreasedwhilemaintaining
orenhancingthecurrentlyhighlevelofsafety.—WhereECAConlyasksfor'Comprehensive radar
coverage....tobecompletedthroughouttheconti­
nentalECACareaby1995atthelatest'theEC
DraftDirectivealsorequires'....usinginteroperable
radarequipmentwhichprovidesfull,organizedsur­
veillance'.Whilethegoalofusinginteroperable
radarequipmentshouldinprinciplebesupported
inordertooptimisetheuseofradarequipment
throughoutEurope,itseemstobequestionable
whetherthiscanbeachievedcost-efficiently until
1996.Arequirementtouseinteroperableradar
equipmentby1996wouldentailareplacementof
recentlyinstalledequipmentwhichwouldbehard
tojustifyinpurelyeconomicterms.
—Therequirementtoguarantee'computerassisted
executionofairtrafficmanagementtasksasfrom
1996'needstobefurtherelaborated .Therequire­
mentdoesnotdirectlycorrespondtoanobjective
oftheECACstrategy.Itisunclearwhichtasksor
functionsshouldbeexecuted,andtowhatextent,
withtheassistanceofcomputers .Itcouldbeargued
thatalltheexistingATMsystemsinEuropeare
usingcomputerssothatadegreeofcomputerassist­
ancealreadyexists.
—The'optimizationofthenetworkofATSroutes
andairspacestructure...'isnotonlyrelatedto
thedefinitionanduseofcompatibletechnicaland
operatingspecifications .Itrequiresseveralmeasures
whichareoutsideofthescopeofthisDraftDirec­
tive.3.Specificremarks
3.1.Article1
3.1.1.Theterm'aircontrol'isnotconsistentwith
ICAOterminology .Itshouldbereplacedbytheterm
'AirTrafficControl'or'AirTrafficServices'.
3.2.Article23.3.2.Forthetimebeing,themeasurestobetaken
inordertoattainthegoalslaiddowninArticle3cannot
befullyforeseen.Therefore,itissuggestedthatthe
aimssetoutinArticle3beputinanannex.This
annexshouldbelegallybindingwithapossibilityfor
amendment .Theamendmentofthecontentsanddead­
linesgivenintheannexshouldbepursuedbythe
CommissionafterconsultationoftheAdvisoryCom­
mitteeaccordingtoArticle7andtheotherparties
involvedaccordingtoArticle8.3.2.1.Thedefinitionoftheterm'standard'isincon­
sistentwiththeuseofthetermbyICAOandEurocon­
trol.However,thedefinitionsareadequateforthe
purposeofthisDirective.
3.3.Article33.3.3.Inparticular,itisnotforeseeablewhichATM
system-components needtobestandardizedandto
whatdegreeofdetail.Thiscanonlybedeterminedin
thecourseoftheworktobedonebyEurocontrolin
theframeworkofphases2,3and4ofEATCHIPand
theprogressivedevelopmentofthefutureEuropeanAir
TrafficManagementSvstem(EATMS).3.3.1.ItisagreedinprinciplethattheDraftDirective
shouldincorporatetheobjectivesoftheECACstrategy.
However,thegoalslaiddowninArticle3areformu­
latedrathervaguelysothatacontrolofgoal-attainment
isverydifficult.Thegoalsandthecorresponding dead­
linesfortheimplementation ofrelatedmeasuresshould
takedueaccountoftechnicalfeasibilityaswellascost
aspects.Anexpensivereplacementofrecentlyinstalled,
fullyusable,equipmentshouldnotbegivenhigher
priorityasaresultoftheproposedDirective,duetoits
repercussionsonATCusercharges.Inparticular,the
followingcommentsaremadewithregardtotheaims
listedinArticle3:
—Theterminology'aircontrolcentres'shouldbe
changedto'airtrafficcontrolcentres'.3.4.Article9
3.4.1.IntheDraftCouncilDirectiveitself,theCom­
missionclaimstherighttoproposeappropriate
measuresifEurocontroldoesnotadopttechnicalspeci­
ficationsbythedeadlineprovidedforinArticle3(see

25.1.93 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoC19/41
Article9).TheprovisionoftherighttotheCommission
toproposeowninitiativesissupported.Itisassumed
thattheEuropeanorganizationsrepresentingairspace
userswillbeconsultedontheseinitiativesasprovided
forinArticle8.
3.5.Article10
3.5.1.TheCommissionshouldalsoreporttothe
EconomicandSocialCommittee .
3.6.Annex1
3.6.1.Theclassification ofsomeofthe'areas
covered'isquestionableinthefollowingcases:
Undertheheading'Communication Systems':
—automatedSSRcodeassignmentsystems(itmight
bemoreappropriatetoincludethisunderthehead­
ing'surveillancesystems').Undertheheading'NavigationSystems':
—radarseparation (thisshouldcomeunder'Surveil­
lancesystems')
—Short-termConflictAlert(STCA)(STCAisaspec­
ificfunctionofanATCsystemandmightbelisted
underaheadinglike'AutomatedAssistancetoAir
TrafficControl')
—airspacedelegation (shouldbeputunderthehead­
ing'AirspaceManagement':asmentionedbefore,
thisissupposedtobeoutsideofthescopeofthis
Directive).
3.7.StatementofEffect
Thestatementmadeunder4('economiceffects')with
regardtothecompetitiveness ofbusinessesisofdoubt­
fulvalidity.ItisnotclearhowtheDirectivewill
improvethecompetitiveness ofEuropeanequipment
manufacturers .Specifications shouldnotaffectthe
competitiveness ofbusinesses.
DoneatBrussels,25November1992.
TheChairman
oftheEconomicandSocialCommittee
SusanneTIEMANN