Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the organisation and use of the airspace in the Single European Sky
Date: 2002-04-30
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: European standard, air space, air traffic, air transport, organisation of transport, trans-European network

30.4.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 103 E/35

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the organisation and
use of the airspace in the Single European Sky

(2002/C 103 E/07)

(Text with EEA relevance)

COM(2001) 564 final/2 — 2001/0236(COD)

(Submitted by the Commission on 11 December 2001)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE
EUROPEAN UNION,

Member States and their commitments in international
organisations.

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

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee,

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions,

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

Whereas:

(1) The creation of

the Single European Sky requires a
harmonised approach for regulation of the organisation
and the use of airspace.

(2) The report of

the High Level Group on the Single
‘the High Level Group’) has
European Sky (hereinafter:
confirmed the need for rules at Community level
to
design, regulate and strategically manage airspace on a
European basis and enhance air traffic flow management.

(3) The Communication of the Commission on the creation
of the Single European Sky (1), calls for structural reform
to permit the creation of the Single European Sky by way
integrated management of airspace and the devel-
of
opment of new concepts and procedures of air traffic
management.

(4) Regulation (EC) No . . . of the European Parliament and of
the Council lays down the framework for the creation of
the Single European Sky,

(5) Airspace is a common resource and needs to be used
flexibly, ensuring fairness and transparency for all users
whilst taking into account security and defence needs of

(6) Efficient

airspace management

to
increasing the capacity of the air traffic services system,
to providing the optimum response to various user
requirements and to achieving the most flexible use of
airspace.

fundamental

is

(7) The activities of the European Organisation for the Safety
of Air Navigation (‘Eurocontrol’) confirm that the route
network and airspace structure cannot realistically be
developed in isolation, as each individual Member State
is an integral element of
the European Air Traffic
Management network.

(8) A single airspace should be established for en-route air
traffic in the upper airspace; the interface between such
airspace and the lower, that is regional and local, airspace
should be identified accordingly.

(9) The delineation of airspace wherein air traffic services are
to be provided should be related to the need for efficient
services, rather than to national boundaries.

(10) Airspace users face disparate conditions of access to, and
freedom of movement within, the Community airspace.
This is due to the lack of harmonisation in the classifi-
cation of airspace.

(11) Constraints in the definition of the route network cause
concentration of air traffic flows at fixed crossing points
or junctions of airways whilst
the principle of direct
routings is the preferred, economical and ecological way
to use Community airspace.

(12) It is essential to achieve a common, harmonised airspace
structure, to base the present and future allocation of
airspace on common principles, and to design and
manage airspace in accordance with harmonised rules.

(1) COM(2001) 123 final.

(13) It is desirable to extend that harmonised airspace structure

to the lower airspace.

C 103 E/36

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

30.4.2002

(14) Variations in the organisation of civil-military cooperation
in the Community prevent uniform and timely airspace
management and the implementation of changes. The
success of the Single European Sky is dependent upon
an effective cooperation between civil and military auth-
orities.

(15) There should be an effective functioning of the flexible
use of airspace concept and collaborative management to
smoothly adapt military training with civil air traffic; it is
necessary to optimise the location, size and time periods
of usage of sectors of airspace allocated to military needs,
especially during peak periods for civil air traffic and in
high-density airspace.

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

CHAPTER I

GENERAL

Article 1

Scope

1.
This Regulation concerns the organisation and the use of
airspace in accordance with, and within the scope of, Regu-
lation (EC) No . . . (laying down the framework for the creation
of the Single European Sky).

(16) Military operations should be safeguarded whenever the
application of common principles and criteria is detri-
mental to their safe and efficient performance.

This Regulation shall apply to the airspace where Member
2.
States designate air navigation service providers as provided for
in Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No . . . of
the European
Parliament and of the Council (service provision).

(17) Adequate measures should be introduced to improve the

effectiveness of air traffic flow management.

Article 2

Objective

(18) In accordance with the conclusions of the High Level
Group, Eurocontrol is the body that has the appropriate
role as
expertise to support
regulator. Accordingly, Eurocontrol should be permitted
to
appropriate
arrangements subject to the observance by Eurocontrol
of the conditions to be included in a framework of coop-
eration between the Commission and Eurocontrol.

the Community in its

draft measures,

develop

under

(19) Since the objectives of the proposed action, namely to
establish a European airspace as a single operating
airspace, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member
States, by reason of the transnational scale of this action,
and can therefore be better achieved at Community level,
whilst ensuring that the implementing procedures take
account of the specific local conditions, the Community
may adopt measures in accordance with the principle of
subsidiarity as set out
In
accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set
out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond
what is necessary in order to achieve those objectives.

in Article 5 of

the Treaty.

(20) Since the measures necessary for the implementation of
this Regulation are measures of general scope within the
meaning of Article 2 of Council Decision 1999/468/EC of
28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise
of implementing powers conferred on the Commission (1),
they should be adopted by use of
regulatory
procedure provided for in Article 5 of that Decision,

the

(1) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.

The objective of this Regulation is to establish a Community
airspace
common
as a single operating airspace where
procedures for design, planning and management ensure the
efficient and safe performance of air traffic management.

The use of Community airspace shall support the operation of
the air navigation services as a coherent and consistent whole
in accordance with the provisions of Regulation (EC) No . . .
(service provision).

Article 3

Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation the definitions set out in
Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No . . .
(framework regulation)
shall apply.

The following definitions shall also apply:

(a)

operating

‘single
management procedures and safety standards
provision of Air Traffic Control;

airspace’ means

uniform airspace
in the

(b)

‘airspace design’ means an appropriate, efficient and
effective process for structuring, dividing and categorising
airspace together with the planning of routes and airspace;

30.4.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 103 E/37

(c)

‘flight information region’ means an airspace of defined
dimensions within which flight information services and
alerting services are provided;

(d)

‘division level’ means the boundary between upper and
lower airspace;

(o)

‘flexible use of airspace’ means an airspace management
concept applied in the European Civil Aviation Conference
area, as specified in the first edition of 5 February 1996 of
the ‘Airspace Management Handbook for the application
of the Concept of the Flexible Use of Airspace’ issued by
Eurocontrol;

(e)

‘upper airspace’ means the airspace above a certain flight
level;

(f)

‘lower airspace’ means the airspace below a certain flight
level;

(p)

‘airspace management’ means a planning function with the
primary objective of maximum utilisation of available
airspace by dynamic time-sharing and, at times, the segre-
gation of airspace among various categories of airspace
users based on short-term needs;

(g)

level’ means a surface of constant atmospheric
‘flight
pressure which is
related to specific pressure datum
1 013,2 hectopascals and is separated from other such
surfaces by specific pressure intervals;

(h)

‘airspace block’ means an airspace of defined dimensions,
above land or waters, within which air navigation services
are provided;

(i)

‘functional airspace block’ means an airspace block of
optimally defined dimensions;

(j)

‘area control centre’ means an operational unit established
to provide air traffic control services to air traffic in a
block of airspace under its jurisdiction;

(k)

the

classification’ means

‘airspace
International Civil
Aviation Organisation (ICAO) classification of airspaces
alphabetically designated as classes A to G, as specified
in Appendix 4 to the twelfth edition of July 1998 of
Annex 11 to the 1944 Chicago Convention on Inter-
national Civil Aviation, also defined as airspaces of
alphabetically designated, within
defined dimensions,
which specific types of flight may operate and for which
air traffic services and rules of operation are specified;

(l)

‘direct routing’ means an aircraft operation allowing an
aircraft in flight to proceed directly between two points
outside the scheme of routes;

(m) ‘route network’ means a network of specified routes for
channelling the flow of air traffic as necessary for the
provision of air traffic services.

(q)

‘air traffic flow management’ means a service established
with the objective of contributing to a safe, orderly and
expeditious flow of air traffic by ensuring that air traffic
control capacity is utilised to the maximum extent
possible, and that traffic volume is compatible with the
capacities declared by the appropriate air traffic services
providers;

(r)

for
‘collaborative decision making’ means a process
exchanging
service
information between air
providers, airport operators, air traffic flow management
providers and airspace users to instil more flexibility in
slot/route allocation and flight coordination processes in
order to optimise utilisation of scarce capacity.

traffic

CHAPTER II

AIRSPACE ARCHITECTURE

Article 4

Creation of a European Upper Flight Information Region

Taking due account of ICAO requirements, as specified in
1.
the twelfth edition of July 1998 of Annex 11 to the 1944
Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation, a single
European Upper Flight
Information Region (EUIR) shall be
established in the upper airspace.

The division level between upper and lower airspace shall

2.
be set at flight level 285.

(n)

‘sector’ means a subdivision of the totality of control tasks
into manageable airspace portions at which throughput
and capacity can be measured;

3. Within three years after the establishment of the EUIR,
the European Parliament and the Council shall, on the basis of
a proposal from the Commission, extend the concept referred
to in paragraph 1 to include the creation of a European Flight
Information Region in the lower airspace.

C 103 E/38

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

30.4.2002

The Commission shall take the necessary measures in
4.
order to have the EUIR recognised by ICAO as required by
the tenth edition of July 1997 of Annex 15 to the 1944
Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation. The
in collaboration with Eurocontrol, shall also
Commission,
organise the publication of a single aeronautical
information
relating to the EUIR through the consolidation of existing
national aeronautical information. This publication shall incor-
porate all changes to requirements and procedures introduced
by the implementation of the Single European Sky.

Article 5

Reconfiguration of the upper airspace

1.
The EUIR shall be reconfigured into functional airspace
blocks of minimum size on the basis of safety and efficiency.
The borders of such functional airspace blocks do not need to
coincide with national boundaries. Functional airspace blocks
shall be created to support the provision of air traffic services
within area control centres responsible for an optimal size of
airspace in the EUIR.

application of

This classification shall be established on a common and
simplified
airspace
the
currently prescribed in chapter 2 of twelfth edition of July
1998 of Annex 11 to the 1944 Chicago Convention on Inter-
national Civil Aviation.

classification of

The necessary implementing rules in the fields covered by the
first and second paragraphs shall be prescribed in accordance
with the procedure referred to in Article 16(2) of this Regu-
lation.

Article 7

Direct routing in the upper airspace

Subject to safety analysis, air navigation service providers shall
organise the phased implementation of direct routings in the
EUIR as the optimum economic and environmentally friendly
usage of Community airspace.

2.
Functional airspace blocks shall be defined in accordance
with the procedure referred to in Article 16(2). The definition
of such functional airspace blocks shall:

Service providers shall regularly report to the Commission on
this implementation.

(a) support efficiently the existing and future pattern of air

traffic;

Article 8

Uniform airspace design

(b) ensure that each airspace block is designed to maximise the

efficiency of European airspace as a whole;

(c) take into account

the human and capital resources of

various air navigation service providers;

(d) minimise the transaction costs between various area control

centres;

(e) ensure coherence between the configurations of upper and

lower airspace.

Article 6

Airspace classification

The EUIR shall be designated in accordance with a harmonised
airspace classification to ensure the seamless provision of air
navigation services throughout the Community and to establish
a single category of environment within which all air traffic is
known to providers of air traffic services, both with position
and with flight intentions.

The structuring, division and categorising of airspace together
with the planning of routes shall rely on a uniform, efficient
and effective design process within the agreed concept of
operation. To this end, airspace rules, common principles
and criteria for sector design, especially the design of cross-
border sectors, and route design shall be established on the
basis of
the ‘Concept and Criteria for Medium Term EUR
Sectorisation’,
Route Network
EATMP ARN Version 4 issued by Eurocontrol on 1 April
2001.

and Associated Airspace

The implementing rules in the fields covered by the first
paragraph shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure
referred to in Article 16(2).

Article 9

Consistency with the design for lower airspace

On the basis of the criteria specified in Article 5(2), as regards
the concept of functional airspace blocks, the planning and
design of lower airspace shall be harmonised to be consistent
with upper airspace and shall take account of the environment
at and around airports in accordance with the procedure
referred to in Article 16(2). The concept shall be extended to
establish similar blocks in the lower airspace, particularly to
address cross border problems for short to medium flights.

30.4.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 103 E/39

Air navigation service providers shall harmonise operations and
practices concerning approaches and departures of aircraft
to/from airports and their movement on the airport surface.
A common procedure for the definition of such practices shall
be laid down in accordance with the procedure referred to in
Article 16(2), including risk assessment methods to verify the
local feasibility of the procedures.

CHAPTER III

CIVIL-MILITARY COORDINATION

Article 10

Civil-military cooperation

1. Member States shall ensure an efficient allocation and use
of airspace by civil and military airspace users through the
uniform and full application of the concept of the Flexible
Use of Airspace.

2. Member States shall facilitate the organisation of civil-
military cooperation particularly in all aspects of airspace
management and air-traffic
flow management. Civil and
military providers of air navigation services shall exchange
data under the agreements provided for in Article 10 of Regu-
lation (EC) No . . . (on the provision of air navigation services
in the Single European Sky).

Taking into account the general conditions for air traffic
3.
flow management, as defined under Article 13, criteria shall, in
accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 16(2), be
established:

(a)

for the use of segregated airspace, including factors for the
determination of horizontal and vertical extensions,
the
location of such airspace, and its sub-division into func-
tional elements to be activated according to demand;

(b) for

the application of

the concept of

flexible use of

airspace.

air traffic services providers in accordance with Article 8 and 9
of Regulation (EC) No . . . (on the provision of air navigation
services in the Single European Sky), regardless of the origin
and/or the destination of the flight.

Article 11

Temporary exemption for adjustments

In the event of serious disturbance of military operations, one
or more Member States may request
the Commission to
propose adjustments to the criteria defined in accordance
with Article 10(3) in their territory. Pending the drafting of
such adjustments
exempt on a
temporary basis the Member States from the application of
these criteria.

the Commission shall

Article 12

Information disclosure

Pursuant to Article 10 of Regulation (EC) No . . . (framework
regulation), Member States shall submit to the Commission the
necessary information on the demand and actual use of
airspace prohibited, closed, or restricted for military reasons,
for further analysis and publication.

CHAPTER IV

FLOW MANAGEMENT

Article 13

Air traffic flow management

Rules for air traffic flow management shall be established in
order to optimise available capacities in the use of airspace and
to enhance flow management processes. These rules shall be
based on transparency and efficiency ensuring that capacity is
provided flexibly and in a timely manner. They shall support a
framework for operational decisions by air navigation service
providers, airport owners and airspace users, based on Collab-
orative Decision Making. These rules shall cover:

The criteria shall
Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No . . . (framework regulation).

implement the principles provided for in

(a) a consistent route and traffic orientation policy defined in a

single publication;

4. Member States shall encourage the full integration of air
defence in airspace management ensuring full exploitation of
airspace under certain agreed conditions and arrangements,
taking into account national security requirements.

(b) consistency between airport slots and slots assigned in the

management of air traffic flows;

to international

5. Without prejudice
and
conventions to which the Community is a contracting party
and in order to ensure the safety of civil aviation, Member
States may require submission of a flight plan for any
military flight entering the airspace where they have designated

agreements

(c)

inconsistencies in flight planning;

(d) options for diversion of air traffic from congested areas

into routes in less congested areas;

C 103 E/40

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

30.4.2002

(e) priority rules in access to airspace, particularly during

periods of congestion and crisis.

rules
The Commission shall publish implementing
2.
adopted on the basis of this Regulation in the Official Journal
of the European Communities.

The implementing rules shall be laid down in accordance with
the procedure referred to in Article 16(2).

CHAPTER V

FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 14

Procedures

When drafting implementing rules covered by this Regulation,
the Commission may, where appropriate, ask Eurocontrol to
draw up draft measures on the basis of a work programme laid
down by the Commission.

Article 15

Review of measures

In order to make adaptations to technical developments
1.
adjustments may be made, in accordance with the procedure
referred to in Article 16(2), to:

(a) the flight level referred to in Article 4(2) of this Regulation;

Article 16

Committee procedures

1.
The Commission shall be assisted by the ‘Single Sky
Committee’ instituted by Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No . . .
(framework regulation).

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, the regulatory
procedure laid down in Article 5 of Decision 1999/468/EC
shall apply, in compliance with Article 7 and Article 8 thereof.

The period provided for in Article 5(6) of Decision

3.
1999/468/EC shall be one month.

CHAPTER VI

ENTRY INTO FORCE

Article 17

Entry into force

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

(b) references to ICAO and Eurocontrol documents as referred

to in Articles 3, 4, 6 and 8.

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