Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL laying down the framework for the creation of the single European sky

(Presented by the Commission)

2001/0060 (COD)

Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL laying down the framework for the creation of the single European sky

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 80(2) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission [1],

[1] OJ C [...], [...], p. [...].

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee [2],

[2] OJ C [...], [...], p. [...].

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions [3],

[3] OJ C [...], [...], p. [...].

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty [4],

[4] OJ C [...], [...], p. [...].

Whereas:

(1) Implementation of the common transport policy requires an efficient air transport system allowing safe, regular operation of air transport services and, consequently, facilitating the free movement of goods, persons and services and ensuring mobility for European citizens;

(2) The European Council called on the Commission to put forward proposals on airspace, air traffic and flow management, based on the work of the High Level Group set up by the Commission; this Group, made up of the civil and military air navigation authorities in the Member States, submitted its report in November 2000;

(3) Smooth operation of the air transport system requires air navigation services allowing optimum use of Europe's airspace and fulfilling their task of general economic interest in accordance with the Treaty;

(4) Smooth operation of the air transport system also requires uniform, high safety standards for the air traffic for which the air navigation services are responsible;

(5) For all these reasons, and with a view to extending the single sky to include a larger number of European States, the Community must, while taking into account the developments already in progress at pan-European level within Eurocontrol, lay down common objectives and an action programme to mobilise the efforts by the Community, the Member States and the various economic stakeholders in order to create a single European airspace: the single sky;

(6) Air navigation services must be developed in line with the general safety and performance objectives, in accordance with the principles laid down by the Convention on International Civil Aviation signed at Chicago on 7 December 1944;

(7) The closer civil/military co-operation essential for efficient use of the airspace must be pursued wherever necessary, using where possible existing co-operation frameworks and turning to all appropriate instruments for any matter concerning air traffic and air navigation services for exclusively military purposes;

(8) In line with the subsidiarity and proportionality principles laid down in Article 5 of the Treaty, the objectives of this Regulation, i.e. to lay down the framework for the creation of the single sky, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States individually and can therefore, by reason of the transnational scale of this action, be better achieved by the Community, while ensuring that the implementing procedures take account of the specific local conditions;

(9) The Community framework provides a means of establishing common rules at Community level to optimise use of the airspace as a whole and the performance of the air navigation services on which this depends;

(10) These rules must cover organisation and use of the airspace and the relevant procedures, provision of air navigation services, including the economic aspects, and air navigation equipment and systems and the associated procedures;

(11) Use of the airspace must be organised and managed efficiently and completely safely to meet the needs of both civil and military users and allow equitable, non-discriminatory allocation of the resources between all users;

(12) The air navigation services provided must ensure uniform, high safety standards for the air traffic which depends on these services; provision of these services must be optimised to guarantee the best use of Europe's airspace resources;

(13) The technical and operational solutions must secure and increase safety standards, the overall capacity of the system, and full, efficient use of the capacity available;

(14) Some of the measures necessary in order to create the single sky call for the Commission to exercise the implementing powers conferred on it, case by case, under Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 [5], on efficiency and speed grounds; creation of the single sky therefore calls for the establishment of a mechanism for co-operation with the Member States by means of setting up a committee of representatives from the Member States which can take account of both civil and military interests and hear outside experts;

[5] OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.

(15) The Council has authorised the Commission to negotiate the Community's accession to the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (Eurocontrol); this accession remains a priority with a view to creation of a single pan-European sky;

(16) Without prejudice to the accession of the European Community to Eurocontrol, the Commission and Eurocontrol may conclude appropriate arrangements to enable Eurocontrol to contribute to the preparation of Community legislation;

(17) It will be desirable to extend the single sky to non-Community countries, either within the framework of participation by the European Community in the work of Eurocontrol, subject to accession by the European Community to this international organisation, or by means of agreements concluded by the Community with the non-Community countries;

(18) It is necessary to organise efficient, regular assistance for the Commission in its activities to supervise and monitor application of the measures needed in order to create the single sky, notably by drawing on the expertise of the Member States and Eurocontrol;

(19) The performance of the air navigation services system as a whole at European level must be constantly examined to check the effectiveness of the measures adopted and propose further measures;

(20) Without prejudice to the role of the social partners in the situations provided for by Article 138 of the Treaty, the Commission may inform and consult the social partners on all measures with significant social implications. It may also consult the Social Dialogue Committee set up on the basis of Commission Decision 1998/500/EC [6];

[6] OJ L 225, 12.8.1998, p. 27.

(21) Drafting of the measures necessary in order to create the single sky requires broad consultations with the industrial partners concerned; to this end, these partners may draw up opinions on the measures taken to create the single sky;

(22) The impact of the measures taken to apply this Regulation should be evaluated in the light of reports which will be submitted regularly by the Commission,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1 (Objective)

The objective of this Regulation is to create, by 31 December 2004 at the latest, a European airspace, conceived and managed as a single airspace offering optimum safety conditions and overall efficiency for air traffic in the Community and ensuring a level of capacity meeting the requirements of civil and military users. This single airspace is hereinafter referred to as the "single sky".

This Regulation lays down the general lines of approach governing creation of the single sky and identifies the fields for action by the Community and the means necessary, in terms of structures, procedures and resources, in order to create the single sky, while taking into account Eurocontrol's mission to establish a pan-European airspace.

The measures taken to apply these lines of approach shall take the form of implementation of common safety and performance rules for air navigation services, mechanisms allowing optimum use of airspace at Community level and the involvement of all economic and social stakeholders concerned.

Article 2 (Definitions)

For the purposes of this Regulation:

(a) "air navigation services" means all air traffic control services, including ancillary services providing communication, navigation and surveillance infrastructure, meteorological services for airspace users, search and rescue services and aeronautical information services. These services are provided to airspace users during every phase of the flight;

(b) "air navigation service providers" means any public or private entity responsible for operating and managing air navigation services;

(c) "air traffic" means all movements of civil and State aircraft, including military, customs and police aircraft;

(d) "airspace users" means all civil and State aircraft, including military, customs and police aircraft;

(e) "Eurocontrol" means the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation set up by the International Convention of 13 December 1960 relating to Co-operation for the Safety of Air Navigation, as amended by the Protocol of 12 February 1981 and to be consolidated by the Protocol of 27 June 1997.

Article 3 (Fields for action by the Community)

1. The measures necessary in order to attain the objectives mentioned in Article 1 shall be established in accordance with the Treaty in the following fields, ensuring maximum safety standards for air navigation:

- organisation and use of the airspace and the relevant procedures;

- provision of air navigation services, including the economic aspects;

- air navigation equipment and systems and the associated procedures.

2. These measures shall comply with the general lines of approach set out in Articles 4, 5 and 6 of this Regulation.

3. The purpose of these measures shall be to define the objectives and, where appropriate, the means of attaining these objectives in order to safeguard the public interest.

Article 4 (Principles in the field of organisation and use of the airspace)

The measures relating to the airspace referred to in Article 3 of this Regulation must be such that:

- the airspace above the territory of the European Community is treated as a common resource constituting a continuum;

- use of the airspace is flexible, i.e. with no permanent segregation and optimising the duration of any temporary segregation for military purposes;

- without prejudice to the requirements concerning safety, environmental protection and air traffic flow management, most flights take a straight line between the points of departure and destination or take the route closest to this straight line;

- the airspace is divided into air traffic control sectors giving priority to operational requirements;

- air traffic flow planning and management allow smooth, flexible air traffic making optimum use of the capacity available.

Article 5 (Principles in the field of provision of air navigation services)

The measures relating to the provision of air navigation services referred to in Article 3 of this Regulation must be such that:

- definition and monitoring of application of the rules referred to in Article 1 of this Regulation are kept separate from operation of the air navigation services subject to these rules;

- air navigation service providers hold regular, formal consultations with airspace users on the arrangements and costs for air navigation services to ensure that these users' needs are taken into account in definition of these services;

- air navigation service providers ensure appropriate transparency in air navigation services, in the form of publication of financial accounts and annual reports, and regularly undergo an independent audit;

- operation of air navigation services is harmonised to ensure integration and consistency of the operations of air navigation service providers, airspace users and airports;

- co-operation between civil air navigation service providers is reinforced, in particular by facilitating the establishment of groupings of two or more service providers ;

- co-operation between civil and military air navigation service providers is encouraged;

- new services are established at the same time for all stakeholders in the Member States concerned;

- air navigation service providers exchange all data on the situation of flights during every phase of the flight in order to facilitate operation of air navigation services; access to these data is open to all concerned on a non-discriminatory basis, without prejudice to safety requirements;

- the economic regulations favour more efficient provision of air navigation services and provision of services releasing capacity meeting Europe's needs;

- mechanisms providing performance incentives are developed to stimulate new investment in this sector and to reward timely provision of high-quality services meeting the demand from airspace users.

Article 6 (Principles in the field of air navigation equipment and systems)

The measures relating to air navigation equipment and systems referred to in Article 3 of this Regulation must be such that:

- the technical and operational solutions allow uniform planning and operation of the European system, including interoperability;

- creation of the single sky favours the introduction of new technical and operational solutions for air navigation;

- the development and validation of technical and operational solutions meet airspace users' common needs and take account of the demand from such users with regard to choice of routes and flight profiles.

Article 7 (Single Sky Committee)

1. The measures taken pursuant to this Regulation shall, where appropriate, include delegation to exercise implementing powers, as provided for by Article 202 of the Treaty and Council Decision 1999/468/EC [7], and in particular Articles 3, 5 and 6 thereof. To this end, the Commission shall be assisted by a committee, hereinafter referred to as the "Single Sky Committee", composed of the representatives of the Member States and chaired by the representative of the Commission. Secretarial services shall be provided by the Commission.

[7] OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.

2. Each Member State shall appoint two representatives and two alternates.

3. Non-Community States committed to air transport agreements with the Community shall be associated with the work of the committee, in accordance with the arrangements laid down in the agreements.

4. The committee shall draw up its own rules of procedure.

Article 8 (Relations with non-Community countries)

When drafting the measures taken to implement this Regulation, the Commission shall keep open the possibility of extending the single sky to countries which are not members of the European Union, whether under bilateral agreements concluded with the non-member countries or within the framework of the international organisation Eurocontrol.

Article 9 (Supervision and monitoring)

1. The measures adopted pursuant to Article 3 of this Regulation shall define appropriate mechanisms for assisting the Commission with its responsibilities for supervising and monitoring application of the Community rules laid down in the fields covered by Article 3(1), including technical civil and military expertise.

2. The supervision and monitoring methods shall be based on the submission of regular reports by air navigation service providers on implementation of the measures adopted.

Article 10 (Performance review)

The Commission shall ensure the examination and comparison of air navigation performance involving, in particular, Eurocontrol's Performance Review Commission.

Article 11 (Impact assessment)

Every five years after the entry into force of this Regulation and for the first time before 1 July 2005, the Commission shall submit to the European Parliament and to the Council a report assessing the measures taken to create the single sky. For the purposes of drafting this report, the Commission may request the opinion of the committee referred to in Article 7. This report shall contain an evaluation of the results achieved by the measures taken pursuant to this Regulation in the various fields of action in the light of the original objectives and of future needs.

Article 12 (Safeguards)

This Regulation shall not prevent Member States from adopting or applying measures warranted by serious internal disturbances affecting the maintenance of law and order, in the event of war, serious international tension constituting a threat of war, or in order to carry out obligations they have accepted for the purpose of maintaining peace and international security.

Article 13

This Regulation shall enter into force on the [...] day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, [...]

For the European Parliament For the Council

The President The President

[...] [...]

LEGISLATIVE FINANCIAL STATEMENT

Policy area(s): Air transport (air traffic management)

Activity:

Title of action: Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the creation of the single European sky.

1. BUDGET LINE(S) + HEADING(S)

Title B2-7 "Transport", budget headings:

B2-704 A "Preparation, evaluation and promotion of sustainable mobility - Expenditure on administrative management" for support expenditure and

B2-704 B "Preparation, evaluation and promotion of sustainable mobility" for the financial intervention.

2. OVERALL FIGURES

2.1 Total allocation for action (Part B): EUR 9.82 million for commitment (2002-2006)

2.2 Period of application:

The action will be of unlimited duration. The structures, procedures and resources put into place in order to create the single sky will apply to all the fields covered by this action for an indefinite period.

The reference period taken as the basis for calculating the total cost of the action is five years (2002-2006).

2.3 Overall multiannual estimate on expenditure:

a) Schedule of commitment appropriations/payment appropriations (financial intervention) (see point 6.1.1)

EUR million (to the 3rd decimal place)

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b) Technical and administrative assistance and support expenditure (see point 6.1.2)

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c) Overall financial impact of human resources and other administrative expenditure (see points 7.2 and 7.3)

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2.4 Compatibility with the financial programming and the financial perspective

|X| Proposal compatible with the existing financial programming

| | This proposal will entail reprogramming of the relevant heading in the financial perspective

| | This may entail application of the provisions of the Interinstitutional Agreement.

2.5 Financial impact on revenue:

|X| No financial implications (involves technical aspects regarding implementation of a measure)

| | Financial impact - the effect on revenue is as follows:

- Note: All details and observations pertaining to the method of calculating the effect on revenue should be included in a separate sheet attached to this financial statement.

EUR million (to 1 decimal place)

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(Please state each budget line involved, adding the appropriate number of rows to the table if there is an effect on more than one budget line)

3. BUDGET CHARACTERISTICS

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4. LEGAL BASIS

Treaty establishing the European Community: Article 80(2).

5. DESCRIPTION AND GROUNDS

5.1 Need for Community intervention

To make air transport more regular and safer and to reduce air traffic delays. This will require a Community action programme which, by 31 December 2004, must create a single European sky, i.e. an airspace above the Community conceived and managed as a single, integrated airspace.

The programme to create the single sky is based on a reform of the individual components which make up the air navigation sector, which is the prime cause of the inefficiencies in the air transport system today.

Before the various measures needed to create the single European sky can be started, the general criteria for the reform will have to be defined, in terms of fields of action, general lines of approach and the arrangements for establishing decision-making structures and procedures. This is the purpose of this action.

5.1.1 Objectives pursued

The objective of this action is to lay down the lines of approach and procedures for drafting and adopting legislative measures in the air navigation sector, for monitoring implementation of these measures and for ex post evaluation of the effectiveness of the measures.

The measures proposed in this process will make air traffic in Community and European airspace more regular and safer and, hence, improve mobility for all European citizens travelling by air in Europe.

5.1.2 Measures taken in connection with ex ante evaluation

To follow up its communication on this subject [8], with the support of the Council the Commission set up a group of representatives of the civil and military air traffic control authorities in the Member States: the High Level Group on the Single European Sky. This action is based on the conclusions reached by the group [9].

[8] Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament: The creation of the single European sky (COM (1999) 0614).

[9] Single European Sky - report by the High Level Group - October 2000.

These conclusions stress the need for legislative action in this sector in order to establish a regulatory framework at Community level covering the principal components of the air traffic management system: organisation and use of airspace, provision of air navigation services and air navigation equipment and systems.

5.1.3 Measures taken following ex post evaluation

Not applicable

5.2 Actions envisaged and arrangements for budget intervention

Creation of the single European sky will remedy the current deficiencies in the field of air navigation by increasing safety, capacity and economic efficiency in air traffic management infrastructure and services and, hence, reducing the factors disrupting air traffic, such as flight delays and other obstacles (sub-optimum flight paths).

The Feira European Council called on the Commission to continue its work on creation of a single European airspace ("the single sky") and to bring forward appropriate proposals, of which this action is the first.

Establishment of common rules is warranted by the transnational nature of the problems to be resolved and, therefore, of the measures to be adopted to remedy the deficiencies in the air navigation sector. The effectiveness and success of these measures depend on setting up a central regulator based on Community instruments.

As regards use of airspace, uniform organisation and management of airspace will make it possible to strike a balance between civil and military interests and to release potential capacity as a result of harmonised planning and design of routes and control sectors at European level. To support rule-making a study will be conducted each year on legislative activities in this field.

This reform of the arrangements for providing air navigation services will improve safety and economic efficiency in this sector to the benefit of airspace users while meeting the public interest obligations. To support rule-making a study will be conducted each year on legislative activities in this field.

Development and installation of air navigation equipment and systems planned at European level will give service providers the means to guarantee the safety standards and airspace capacity needed to cater for the growth in air traffic in the years ahead. The availability of a process for designing, developing and validating air navigation equipment and systems will also strengthen the position of manufacturers of the equipment and systems on the European and world markets. To support rule-making a study will be conducted each year on legislative activities in this field.

Creation of the single sky will therefore provide fundamental support for the Community policies on air transport and on transport in general.

5.3 Methods of implementation

The objectives of this action will be pursued using the following means:

- studies to support drafting of Community rules;

- contribution to the work by the social partners and industry (meetings of experts);

- work within the Single Sky Committee (Article 7 of the Regulation).

6. FINANCIAL IMPACT

6.1 Total financial impact on Part B - (over the entire programming period)

6.1.1 Financial intervention

Commitments in EUR million (to the 3rd decimal place)

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6.2. Calculation of costs by measure envisaged in Part B (over the entire programming period) [10]

[10] For further information see a separate guidance paper.

Commitments in EUR million (to the 3rd decimal place)

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7. IMPACT ON STAFF AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENDITURE

7.1. Impact on human resources

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7.2 Overall financial impact of human resources

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The amounts are total expenditure for twelve months.

7.3 Other administrative expenditure deriving from the action

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(*) As an exception from the standard rules of procedure, the expenses of two persons per State will be reimbursed to allow participation by delegations made up of both civil and military representatives.

The amounts are total expenditure for twelve months.

(1) Specify the type of committee and the group to which it belongs.

I. Annual total (7.2 + 7.3)

II. Duration of action

III. Total cost of action (I x II) // 706.500EUR

10 years

7.065.000EUR

(In the estimate of human and administrative resources required for the action, DGs/Services must take into account the decisions taken by the Commission in its orientation debate and when adopting the preliminary draft budget (PDB). This means that DGs must show that human resources can be covered by the indicative pre-allocation made when the PDB was adopted.

Exceptional cases, where the action concerned could not be foreseen when the PDB was being prepared, will have to be referred to the Commission for a decision on whether and how (by means of an amendment of the indicative pre-allocation, an ad hoc redeployment exercise, a supplementary/amending budget or a letter of amendment to the draft budget) implementation of the proposed action can be accepted.)

8. FOLLOW-UP AND EVALUATION

8.1 Follow-up arrangements

Article 9 provides for the establishment of appropriate mechanisms for supervising and monitoring the measures taken to create the single sky, based on regular reports submitted by experts under the direction of the Commission and in strict co-ordination with the Member States.

Article 10 provides for an independent entity, modelled on Eurocontrol's Performance Review Commission, to perform the task of examining the impact of the measures taken to create the single sky.

The evaluation process and its findings will provide evidence and recommendations to review the measures adopted. Evaluation findings will be made available to all economic stakeholders and to the public.

8.2 Arrangements and schedule for the planned evaluation

By mid-2005 at the latest the Commission will submit to Parliament and the Council a report evaluating implementation of this action. This report will establish whether the objectives of the action have been attained. It will also evaluate the cost-effectiveness aspects and, based on performance indicators, whether the objectives have been attained. This report will make it possible to check whether the action taken by the Community meets current and future needs.

9. ANTI-FRAUD MEASURES

In the case of provision of technical expertise, any inspection and audit procedures will be included in the framework contract between the Commission and Eurocontrol.

The Commission will check subsidies and the receipt of services and preparatory, feasibility or assessment studies ordered before payment is made, in the light of the contractual commitments and the principles of economy and sound financial or overall management.

Anti-fraud measures (inspection, forwarding reports, etc.) are included in all agreements and contracts between the Commission and the recipients of payments.