Common Position (EC) No 30/2003 of 18 March 2003 adopted by the Council, acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 251 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, with a view to adopting a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the organisation and use of the airspace in the single European sky (the airspace Regulation) (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2003-03-18
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: Eurocontrol, European standard, air space, air traffic, air transport, organisation of transport, trans-European network

3.6.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 129 E/11

COMMON POSITION (EC) No 30/2003

adopted by the Council on 18 March 2003

with a view to adopting Regulation (EC) No . . ./2003 of the European Parliament and of the
Council of . . . on the organisation and use of the airspace in the single European Sky (the
airspace Regulation)

(2003/C 129 E/02)

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE
EUROPEAN UNION,

(5)

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),

Having regard to the Opinion of the European Economic and
Social Committee (2),

Having regard to the Opinion of
Regions (3),

the Committee of

the

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article
251 of the Treaty (4),

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
European Sky in November 2000 has confirmed the
need for rules at Community level
to design, regulate
and manage airspace on a European basis and enhance
air traffic flow management.

the Contracting States recognise that

In Article 1 of the 1944 Chicago Convention on Civil
Aviation,
‘every
State has complete and exclusive sovereignty over the
airspace above its territory’. It is within the framework
the
of
Community,
international
conventions, exercise the powers of a public authority
when controlling air traffic.

the Member States of

such sovereignty that

applicable

subject

to

(6) Airspace is a resource that needs to be used flexibly by all
users, ensuring fairness and transparency whilst taking into
account security and defence needs of Member States and
their commitments within international organisations.

(7) 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

the route
(8) The activities of Eurocontrol confirm that
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 (‘EATMN’), both inside and outside
the Community.

(9) A more integrated operating airspace should be established
for en-route general air traffic in the upper airspace; the
interface between upper and lower airspace should be
identified accordingly.

(3) The Communication of the Commission on the creation of
the Single European Sky of 30 November 2001 calls for
structural reform to permit
the Single
European Sky by way of a more integrated management
of airspace and the development of new concepts and
procedures of air traffic management.

the creation of

(10) A European Upper Flight

Information Region (‘EUIR’)
encompassing the upper airspace under the responsibility
of the Member States within the scope of this Regulation
should facilitate
common planning and aeronautical
information publication in order to overcome regional
bottlenecks.

(4) Regulation (EC) No . . ./2003 (5) of
. . .

the
European
Parliament and of
lays down the
the Council of
framework for the creation of the Single European Sky
(‘the framework Regulation’).

(11) 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.

(1) OJ C 103 E, 30.4.2002, p. 35.
(2) OJ C 241, 7.10.2002, p. 24.
(3) OJ C 278, 14.11.2002, p. 13.
(4) Opinion of the European Parliament of 3 September 2002 (not yet
published in the Official
Journal), Council Common Position of
18 March 2003 and Decision of the European Parliament of . . .
(not yet published in the Official Journal).

(5) See page 1 of this Official Journal.

(12) The reconfiguration of airspace should be based on oper-
ational requirements regardless of existing boundaries.

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

airspace

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3.6.2003

(14) The concept of the flexible use of airspace should be
applied effectively; it is necessary to optimise the use of
sectors of airspace, especially during peak periods for
general air traffic and in high-traffic airspace, by co-
operation between Member States in respect of the use
of such sectors for military operations and training. To
that end,
is necessary to allocate the appropriate
resources for an effective implementation of the concept
of the flexible use of airspace, taking into account both
civil and military requirements.

it

traffic services in accordance with the service provision Regu-
lation. Member States may also apply this Regulation to
airspace under their responsibility within other ICAO regions,
on condition that they inform the Commission and the other
Member States thereof.

The Flight

4.
Information Regions comprised within the
airspace to which this Regulation applies shall be published
in the Official Journal of the European Union.

(15) Differences

in the organisation of

civil-military co-
operation in the Community restrict uniform and timely
airspace management and the implementation of changes.
The success of the Single European Sky is dependent upon
effective cooperation between civil and military auth-
orities, without prejudice to the prerogatives and respon-
sibilities of the Member States in the field of defence.

(16) Military operations and training should be safeguarded
the application of common principles and
efficient

detrimental

to their

safe

and

is

whenever
criteria
performance.

(17) Adequate measures should be introduced to improve the
effectiveness of air traffic flow management in order to
assist existing operational units, including the Eurocontrol
Central Flow Management Unit, to ensure efficient flight
operations.

(18) It

is desirable to reflect upon the extension of upper

airspace concepts to the lower airspace,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

CHAPTER I

GENERAL

Article 1

Objective and scope

1. Within the scope of the framework Regulation, this Regu-
lation concerns the organisation and the use of airspace in the
Single European Sky. The objective of this Regulation is to
support the concept of a more integrated operating airspace
within the context of the common transport policy and to
establish common procedures
for design, planning and
management ensuring the efficient and safe performance of
air traffic management.

2.
The use of airspace shall support the operation of the air
navigation services as a coherent and consistent whole in
the
accordance with Regulation (EC) No . . ./2003 of
European Parliament and of
. . . on the
provision of air navigation services in the Single European
Sky (‘the service provision Regulation’) (1).

the Council of

3. Without prejudice to Article 10, this Regulation shall
apply to the airspace within the ICAO EUR and AFI regions
where Member States are responsible for the provision of air

(1) See page 16 of this Official Journal.

CHAPTER II

AIRSPACE ARCHITECTURE

Article 2

Division level

The division level between upper and lower airspace shall be
set at flight level 285.

Deviations from the division level that are justified in the light
of operational requirements may be decided upon in agreement
with the Member States concerned in accordance with the
procedure referred in Article 5(3) of the framework Regulation.

Article 3

European Upper Flight Information Region (EUIR)

1.
The Community and its Member States shall aim at the
establishment and recognition by the ICAO of a single EUIR.
To that effect, for matters which fall within the competence of
the Community, the Commission shall submit a recommen-
dation to the Council in accordance with Article 300 of the
Treaty.

2.
The EUIR shall be designed to encompass the airspace
in
falling under
accordance with Article 1(3) and may also include airspace
of European third countries.

the responsibility of

the Member States

The establishment of the EUIR shall be without prejudice
3.
to the responsibility of Member States for the designation of air
traffic service providers for the airspace under their responsi-
bility in accordance with Article 7(1) of the service provision
Regulation.

4. Member States shall retain their responsibilities towards
the ICAO within the geographical
limits of the upper flight
information regions and flight information regions entrusted
to them by the ICAO on the date of entry into force of this
Regulation.

5. Without prejudice to the publication by Member States of
aeronautical information and in a manner consistent with this
publication, the Commission, in close cooperation with Euro-
control, shall coordinate the development of a single aero-
nautical
information publication relating to the EUIR, taking
account of relevant ICAO requirements.

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Article 4

Airspace classification

airspace

The Commission and the Member States shall work towards
classification,
the progressive harmonisation of
designed to ensure the seamless provision of air navigation
services within the framework of the Single European Sky.
This common approach shall be based on a simplified
application of airspace classification, as defined within the
Eurocontrol airspace strategy for the European Civil Aviation
Conference States in accordance with ICAO standards.

The necessary implementing rules in this field shall be estab-
lished in accordance with the procedure under Article 7 of the
framework Regulation.

Article 5

Reconfiguration of the upper airspace

the air

1. With a view to achieving maximum capacity and effi-
ciency of
traffic management network within the
Single European Sky, and with a view to maintaining a high
level of safety, the upper airspace shall be reconfigured into
functional airspace blocks.

2.

Functional airspace blocks shall, inter alia:

(a) be supported by a safety case;

(b) enable optimum use of airspace, taking into account air

traffic flows;

(c) be justified by their overall added value, including optimal
use of technical and human resources, on the basis of
cost-benefit analyses;

(d) ensure a fluent and flexible transfer of responsibility for air

traffic control between air traffic service units;

the
block, or by a declaration of one Member State if
airspace included in the block is wholly under its responsibility.
The Member State(s) concerned shall only act after having
consulted interested parties,
including the Commission and
the other Member States.

5.
In a case where a functional airspace block relates to
airspace that is wholly or partly under the responsibility of
two or more Member States, the agreement by which the
block is established shall contain the necessary provisions
concerning the way in which the block can be modified and
the way in which a Member State can withdraw from the
block, including transitional arrangements.

6.
The decisions referred to in paragraphs 4 and 5 shall be
notified to the Commission for publication in the Official
the European Union. Such publication shall specify
Journal of
the date of entry into force of the relevant decision.

Article 6

Optimised route and sector design in the upper airspace

1.
Common principles and criteria for route and sector
design shall be established to ensure the safe, economically
efficient and environmentally friendly use of airspace. Sector
design shall be coherent inter alia with route design.

The

implementing rules

2.
paragraph 1 shall be
procedure under Article 7 of the framework Regulation.

covered by
adopted in accordance with the

in the

fields

3.
Decisions regarding the establishment or modification of
routes and sectors shall require the approval of the Member
States who have responsibility for the airspace to which such
decisions apply.

(e) ensure compatibility between the configurations of upper

and lower airspace;

CHAPTER III

FLEXIBLE USE OF AIRSPACE IN THE SINGLE EUROPEAN SKY

(f) comply with

conditions
agreements concluded within the ICAO; and

stemming

from regional

(g) respect regional agreements in existence on the date of
in particular those

this Regulation,

entry into force of
involving European third countries.

3.
Common general principles for the establishment and
modification of functional airspace blocks shall be developed
in accordance with the procedure under Article 7 of
the
framework Regulation.

Article 7

Flexible use of airspace

Taking into account the organisation of military aspects
1.
under their
responsibility, Member States shall ensure the
uniform application within the Single European Sky of the
concept of the flexible use of airspace as described by the
ICAO and as developed by Eurocontrol, in order to facilitate
airspace management and air
in the
context of the common transport policy.

traffic management

4.
A functional airspace block shall only be established by
mutual agreement between all Member States who have
the airspace included in the
responsibility for any part of

2. Member States shall report annually to the Commission
on the application,
in the context of the common transport
policy, of the concept of the flexible use of airspace in respect
of the airspace under their responsibility.

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3.6.2003

it becomes necessary to reinforce

3. Where, in particular following the reports submitted by
Member States,
and
harmonise the application of the concept of the flexible use
of airspace within the Single European Sky, implementing rules
within the context of the common transport policy shall be
adopted in accordance with the procedure under Article 7 of
the framework Regulation.

(b) use of available airspace capacity during all phases of flight,

including slot assignment; and

(c) use of routings by general air traffic, including

— the creation of a single publication for route and traffic

orientation,

Article 8

— options

for diversion of general air

traffic

from

Temporary suspension

congested areas, and

operational

In cases where the application of Article 7 gives rise to
1.
significant
States may
temporarily suspend such application on condition that they
inform without delay the Commission and the other Member
States thereof.

difficulties, Member

2.
Following the introduction of a temporary suspension,
adjustments to the rules adopted under Article 7(3) may be
worked out for the airspace under the responsibility of the
Member State(s) concerned, in accordance with the procedure
under Article 7 of the framework Regulation.

Article 9

Air traffic flow management

Implementing rules for air traffic flow management shall
1.
be established in accordance with the procedure under Article
7 of the framework Regulation, with a view to optimising
available capacity in the use of airspace and enhancing air
traffic flow management processes. These rules shall be based
on transparency and efficiency, ensuring that capacity is
provided in a flexible and timely manner, consistent with the
recommendations of the ICAO Regional Air Navigation Plan,
European Region.

implementing
air
by

support operational
2.
The
decisions
airport
operators and airspace users and shall cover the following
areas:

rules
navigation

shall
service

providers,

(a)

flight planning;

— priority rules regarding access to airspace for general air
traffic, particularly during periods of congestion and
crisis.

CHAPTER IV

FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 10

Review

the framework Regulation,

In the context of the periodical review referred to in Article
the Commission shall
10(2) of
finalise a prospective study on the conditions for
future
application of the concepts referred to in Articles 3, 5 and 6
to lower airspace.

achieved,

On the basis of the study's conclusions and in the light of the
progress
by
the Commission
31 December 2006 a report to the European Parliament and
if appropriate, by a proposal to
the Council accompanied,
extend the application of these concepts to lower airspace, or
to determine any other steps.

submit

shall

Article 11

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 Union.

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

Done at . . .

For the European Parliament

The President

For the Council

The President

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STATEMENT OF THE COUNCIL'S REASONS (1)

(1) See page 8 of this Official Journal.