REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT on the intermediate evaluation of the SESAR Joint Undertaking and its progress on the execution of the European Air Traffic Management Master plan
Date: 2011-01-24
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: air safety, air space, air traffic, air traffic control, air transport, common transport policy, development plan, joint venture, research programme, trans-European network

EN 

EN 

   EN 

 
EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 24.1.2011 
COM(2011) 14 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT 

on the intermediate evaluation of the SESAR Joint Undertaking and its progress on the 
execution of the European Air Traffic Management Master plan 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
  
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT 

on the intermediate evaluation of the SESAR Joint Undertaking and its progress on the 
execution of the European Air Traffic Management Master plan 

1. 

GENERAL CONTEXT 

The  Single  European  Sky  Air  Traffic  Management  Research  (SESAR)  Programme  is  the 
technological pillar of the Single European Sky initiative1. SESAR has defined, is developing 
and will deploy a high quality, new generation of air traffic management (ATM) technologies, 
systems  and  procedures  compliant  with  SES  objectives  and  requirements  (SES  technologies 
and procedures). One of the key results of the SESAR definition phase is the European ATM 
Master plan (Master  plan), which  constitutes a  commonly  developed  roadmap,  endorsed  by 
the  Council  of  the  EU  and  recognised by stakeholders, to achieve  the deployment  of a new 
generation of ATM technologies and procedures within the next 10-15 years. The Master plan 
steers the work programme for the development of these technologies and will be a key tool 
to govern their deployment. 

The  SESAR  Programme  is  now  in  its  development  phase  managed  by  the  SESAR  Joint 
Undertaking (SJU), the first ATM public-private partnership set up as an EU body. The SJU's 
mission  is  to  ensure  the  modernisation  of  the  European  ATM  system  by  coordinating  and 
concentrating all the relevant research and development efforts in the EU. The SJU develops 
and  validates  the  new  generation  of  ATM  technologies  and  procedures  that  will  constitute 
SES  technologies  &  procedures.  The  SJU  is  also  responsible  for  the  execution  and  the 
maintenance  of  the  Master  plan.  Its  founding  members  are  the  EU  and  Eurocontrol  and  it 
associates 15 industrial members and several other associate partners. 

As  required  by  the  SJU  Regulation2,  the  Commission  has  carried  out  a  first  intermediate 
evaluation of the SJU in 2010 and shall present the results to the European Parliament and the 
Council. Furthermore, in its Resolution of 30.03.2009, the Council asked the Commission to 
report  on  the  progress  made  by  the  SJU  on  the  execution  of  the  Master  plan.  This  report 
addresses these two topics fulfilling the mentioned requirements. 

2. 

THE SESAR PROGRAMME 

The SESAR Programme is one of the most important research and development projects ever 
launched  by  the  EU  in  the  field  of  ATM.  The  SES  provides  the  legal  framework  for  more 
efficient,  performance  driven,  safer  and  greener  procedures  for  ATM.  SESAR  will  provide 
technological  solutions,  functionalities,  systems  and  proposals  for  standards  that  enable  the 
achievement of the SES performance targets of tripling capacity, reducing ATM costs by half, 
improving safety by a factor of 10 and reducing the environmental impact of each flight by 
10%. 

1 

2 

Regulations  (EC)  549/2004,  550/2004,  551/2004,  552/2004,  OJ  L96,  31.03.2004,  p.1-26,  as  amended 
by Regulation (EC) 1070/2009 of 21.10.2009, OJ L300, 14.11.2009, p. 34. 
Council Regulation (EC)219/2007 of 27.02.2007, OJ L64, 2.03.2007, p. 1 

EN 

2 

   EN 

                                                 
SESAR is composed of three phases: 

2.1. 

The definition phase 

The  definition  phase  (2005-2008)  has  defined  the  roadmap  for  the  achievement  of  ATM 
performance levels and the establishment of a high level work plan that defines the content of 
the next generation of ATM systems identifying the necessary elements for its realisation. The 
definition  phase  was  carried  out  by  a  consortium  of  30  organisations  representing  a  wide 
range  of  ATM  stakeholders,  under  the  technological  coordination  of  Eurocontrol.  The  total 
cost of this phase was 60 million EUR financed in equal parts by the EU and Eurocontrol. 

2.2. 

The development phase 

The development phase (2008-2013) is developing the necessary elements on the basis of the 
results of the definition phase. The management of the development phase is entrusted to the 
SJU. The estimated cost of the development phase is 2.1 billion EUR and is financed by the 
members of the SJU combining public and private funds.  

2.3. 

The deployment phase 

The deployment phase (2013-2020) covers the large scale production and implementation of 
the  new  ATM  infrastructure.  This  infrastructure  will  be  based  on  the  new  technologies  and 
procedures  resulting  from  the  development  phase  and  will  contribute  to  achieving  SES 
objectives  that  will  lead  to  high  performance  in  European  air  transport.  The  cost  of 
deployment is estimated to be 30 billion EUR3 over the period 2008-2025. 

3. 

THE SESAR JOINT UNDERTAKING  

The  SJU  is  a  public-private  partnership  with  the  statute  of  an  EU  body  established  in 
accordance with Article 187 of the Treaty on the functioning of the EU with a lifespan from 
27.02.2007 to 31.12.2016. The SJU's mandate is to: 

–  Coordinate and concentrate all relevant ATM research in accordance with the Master plan 

–  Execute the Master plan 

–  Ensure the necessary funding of the development phase 

–  Ensure the involvement of the stakeholders 

–  Organise the technical work including the validation activities 

–  Ensure the supervision of the activities related to the development of common products 

The executive decisions are taken by the Administrative Board,  chaired by the  Commission 
representing the EU. The Executive Director is responsible for day-to-day management of the 
SJU. 

3 

Master plan, p. 84 
http://www.sesarju.eu/sites/default/files/documents/reports/European_ATM_Master_Plan.pdf 

EN 

3 

   EN 

                                                 
The EU and Eurocontrol, the founding members, have each committed 700 million EUR for 
the  SJU.  Half  of  the  Union's  contribution  stems  from  the  7th  Framework  Programme  for 
Research and Development and the other half from the multi-annual programme of the Trans-
European  Transport  Network  Programme.  The  industrial  members,  chosen  through  an  open 
selection procedure, have also globally committed approximately 700 million EUR. 

The SJU's work programme, covered by 17 work packages4 and implemented through some 
300  projects  carried  out  by  the  SJU  members  and  their  associates,  is  divided  into  the 
following thematic areas: 

(1)  Operational  ATM  research,  including:  en-route  operations,  terminal  management 

areas operations, airport operations and networking operations 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

System research, including: aircraft systems, en-route & approach air traffic control 
systems,  flight/wing  operations  centres  and  meteorological  information  services, 
airport  systems,  network 
information  management  system  and  non-avionics 
communication-navigation-surveillance systems 

System Wide Information Management 

Transversal  activities:  such  as  validation  infrastructure,  development  of  safety, 
security, environment and human performance cases, maintenance and updates of the 
Master plan, the target concept and its architecture 

By  focussing  research  and  development  activities,  steering  them  towards  deployment  and 
actively  involving  stakeholders,  the  SJU  provides  an  optimal  response  to  the  needs  of  the 
airspace users and service providers. The public-private partnership approach at EU level also 
ensures that the SES objectives of high societal relevance, such as safety and reducing CO2 
emissions,  are  integrated  and  internalised  in  the  Programme.  This  approach  has  allowed 
leveraging and pooling funds and know-how, thus reducing fragmentation created by similar 
national and regional projects. The SJU can harness the skills and innovation capacity of the 
private  sector  within  appropriate  risk  sharing  arrangements  with  the  public  sector.  It  is, 
however, important to ensure that SJU delivers in time the expected results to reduce risks for 
the deployment phase. 

As  development  activities  reach  their  cruising  speed,  the  Commission  will  strengthen  its 
oversight  to  ensure  coherence  with  the  SES  objectives.  In  particular,  the  Commission  shall 
ensure that the SJU, through the commitment and support of its members, takes measures to 
dispose  of  the  necessary  expertise,  to  set  up  adequate  validation  platforms  and  enable  the 
launching of the deployment process and deliver early benefits. 

From an international perspective, the SJU has become Europe's "technological ambassador" 
for  promoting  global  ATM  interoperability,  opening  also  new  opportunities  for  industry.  A 
major  step  has  been  taken  in  this  domain  through  the  negotiation  of  a  Memorandum  of 
Cooperation  between  the  EU  and  the  USA  in  the  field  of  civil  aviation  research  and 
development. The Memorandum contains a specific Annex on cooperative actions supporting 
SESAR-NextGen5 interoperability, which will be carried out for the EU side by the SJU. 

4 
5 

Detailed technical description of work: http://www.sesarju.eu/public/standard_page/library_list.html 
NextGen is the USA's ATM modernisation Programme. 

EN 

4 

   EN 

                                                 
The  SJU  has  proven  to  be  a  flexible  and  dynamic  instrument  that  supports  an  interactive 
relationship between development and deployment by being able to adapt to the needs of the 
services  providers  and  users  and  to  the  evolving  requirements  of  the  SES  as  well  as 
integrating evolutions of aircraft performance. 

3.1. 

Results of the first intermediate evaluation of the SESAR Joint Undertaking 

In accordance with Article 7 of the SJU Regulation, the Commission is required to carry out 
every three years evaluations on: 

–  the implementation of the SJU Regulation 

–  the results obtained by the SJU and its working methods 

–  the general financial situation of the SJU 

The  first  evaluations  were  launched  in  March  2010  covering  period  from  27.02.2007  to 
31.12.20096. 

3.1.1.  Approach of the evaluations 

The  Commission  has  carried  out  the  first  evaluations  with  the  assistance  of  an  external 
independent consultant, COWI A/S.  

The evaluations are based on 5 standard evaluation criteria used by the Commission: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

(5) 

Relevance  is  the  extent  to  which  the  SJU’s  objectives  are  pertinent  to  the  needs, 
problems and issues to be addressed 

Effectiveness  concerns  the  extent  to  which  set  objectives  are  achieved.  This  also 
includes  the  functioning  of  management  structures  and  the  way  they  support  the 
organisation in delivering results 

Efficiency measures the extent to which desired effects are achieved at a reasonable 
cost 

Utility  is  the  extent  to  which  effects  achieved  correspond  with  the  needs,  problems 
and  issues  to  be  addressed.  Considering  the  early  stage  of  the  SJU,  only  a  very 
preliminary  assessment  of  utility  was  made  considering  the  progress  of  work  and 
results achieved so far 

Sustainability  is  the  extent  to  which  positive  effects  are  likely  to  last  after  an 
intervention  has  terminated.  As  for  the  assessment  of  the  “utility”  of  the  SJU,  the 
evaluation  only  addresses  a  preliminary  analysis  on  the  likely  sustainability  of  the 
results to be achieved by the SJU 

Data  was  mainly  collected  through  the  SJU's  parent  Directorate-General  (DG  Mobility  and 
Transport) and a desk study conducted by COWI. This information has been complemented 
by an e-survey targeting the members of the SJU Administrative Board and the EU Member 

6 

EN 

Full 
http://ec.europa.eu/transport/evaluations/trans_european_networks_en.htm 

http://ec.europa.eu/transport/evaluations/research_en.htm 

report 

: 

5 

or 

   EN 

                                                 
States  (through  the  Single  Sky  Committee7)  and  individual  and  focus-group  interviews 
conducted by COWI. Although the response rates were too low to allow full exploitation of 
the data collected, the results provide an indication of the main stakeholders’ perception of the 
SJU. In total 30 individual interviews and 3 focus-group interviews were carried out.  

3.2. 

Results of the evaluations 

The  overall  conclusion  of  the  first  intermediate  evaluations  is  that  the  SJU  performed  well 
during the reference period in terms of setting up and developing its organisation as well as 
conducting  its  designated  tasks.  It  also  results  that,  in  general,  the  SJU  stakeholders  are 
satisfied  with  its  performance.  The  SJU's  annual  activity  report  20098  provides  a  detailed 
description  of  the  activities  it  has  carried  out  and  its  financial  situation  over  the  reference 
period.  

3.2.1. 

Implementation of the Regulation 

The  provisions  of  the  SJU  Regulation  were  appropriately  implemented  during  the  reference 
period, although with some delay in some cases. It is important to note that the amendment of 
the SJU Regulation, transforming the SJU into an EU body, slowed down the setup process, 
namely because of the need to adopt new financial rules, new staff contracts and accounting 
principles required for EU bodies. 

3.2.2.  Results obtained by the SJU and its working methods 

In general, the SJU has implemented the planned activities and achieved the expected results. 
The general level of satisfaction of stakeholders with the SJU's work is high. Some of the key 
achievements during the reference period are: 

–  Gathering and committing stakeholders on a common R&D programme 

–  Developing  the  work  programme  that  supports  rationalisation  and  consistency,  avoiding 

gaps and overlapping 

–  Developing the required methods and tools for programme implementation 

–  Initiating  a  number  of  projects  within  a  short  timeframe  without  compromising  on  the 

quality requirements and needs for coordination between work packages and projects 

The SJU has shown good progress since its establishment and constitutes a solid base for the 
execution of the Master plan. The challenges facing the SJU relate to maintaining its capacity 
to coordinate all work-packages and projects and validate the deliverables. 

The  organisational  structure  is  aligned  with  the  tasks  entrusted  to  the  SJU.  The  staffing 
corresponds to its objective, there is a clear distribution of tasks and management systems and 
procedures are clearly defined. Financial management and audit capacity is in place, although 
some  systems  and  support  measures  still  needed  to  be  implemented  at  the  time  of  the 
evaluation. 

7 
8 

EN 

Article 5, Regulation (EC) No 549/2004 of 10.03.2004, OJ L96, 31.2.2004 
SESAR 
Report 
www.sesarju.eu/sites/default/files/documents/reports/Annual_Activity_Report_2009_Adopted.pdf 

Undertaking 

Activity 

Annual 

2009, 

Joint 

10.03.2010: 

6 

   EN 

                                                 
There is a common awareness amongst SJU members of the importance  of an efficient risk 
management  framework  that  fully  involves  them  in  its  establishment.  An  "Enterprise  Risk 
Management Framework" is being developed and planned to be introduced in 2010. 

Programme support and units responsible for the strategy and consistency in the execution of 
the  Master  plan  are  a  large  component  of  the  SJU  organisation.  The  use  of  a  uniform 
Programme  Management  Plan  ensures  the  application  of  the  same  methodology  across 
projects leading to coherence and consistency of results, although its full potential is not yet 
achieved due to the early stage of the work programme implementation.  

The  communication  processes  and  instruments  should  be  further  developed  to  meet  the 
differentiated  communication  needs  of  the  founding  members,  SJU  members  and  other 
stakeholders, members and non-members of the Administrative Board. 

The information and coordination at the Administrative Board is satisfactory, although some 
SJU members find that there has been too much focus on administrative matters and prefer to 
have  more  technical  topics  on  the  Board's  agenda.  This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  during  the 
reference  period  the  SJU  mainly  dedicated efforts to its setup and few operational activities 
had been launched. 

The  data  produced  or  collected  by  the  SJU  should  be  used  to  the  fullest  extent  when 
producing  cost  benefit  analysis  for  the  deployment  phase.  This  information  should  be 
integrated  into  the  strategic  communication  exercises  that  give  European  policy  makers  the 
right  tools  for  communicating  on  the  socio-economic  impact  of  the  SESAR  Programme  as 
well as on mitigating actions. 

Overall, the coordination between the SJU, its founding members and the selected members is 
satisfactory. The clear allocation of responsibilities between the SJU, founding members and 
selected  members  are  based  on  the  legal  framework.  The  coordination  between  the  two 
founding  members  is  satisfactory  and  they  seek  to  coordinate  their  input  to  the  SJU 
Administrative Board. The monitoring and reporting arrangements between the SJU and the 
Commission  are  defined  in  a  general  agreement  concluded  in  December  2009  and  are 
satisfactory. 

To ensure efficient and effective operations, as in any newly established organisation the SJU 
management  should  focus  on  building  a  common  organisational  culture  to  drive  such  an 
innovative PPP model. 

Attractive  training  processes  and  instruments  for  members  should  be  developed  by  the  SJU 
and applied to increase overall capacity of members' staff working on the projects. 

3.2.3.  General financial situation 

The SJU has implemented an appropriate framework complying with the SJU's financial rules 
and the principle of sound financial management. The Court of Auditors recently commented 
on the SJU financial rules highlighting some areas  to  be  strengthened.  A  number  of  actions 
are being taken by SJU to implement these improvements. 

All  SJU  members  have  formalised  their  financial  commitments  through  appropriate 
agreements with the SJU: 

–  The Commission contributes 700 million EUR, entirely in cash 

EN 

7 

   EN 

–  Eurocontrol provides 700 million EUR in contribution, of which 535 million EUR in kind 

and 165 million EUR in cash 

–  The other members have committed a global amount of 537 million EUR of which 5% is 

provided in cash 

3.2.4.  Relevance 

Overall, the SJU Regulation and the SJU are assessed as highly relevant. This is based on the 
following conclusions: 

–  The  data  collected  indicates  that  the  SJU  model  is  an  appropriate  implementation 
mechanism for the SESAR development phase and for the execution of the Master plan 

–  Given the  complexity of the  programme and the size  of  its budget, SESAR development 
requires  a  targeted  administration  and  technical  expertise  recruited  from  various 
stakeholders.  The  stakeholders'  perception  is  that  the  choice  of  the  SJU  instrument  is 
justified 

–  The  SJU's  strategic  objectives  for  2012  and  the  annual  work  plans  are  aligned  to  the 

Master plan and with the tasks of the SJU 

–  The SJU is performing according to the requirements of the FP7 and TEN-T Programmes  

3.2.5.  Effectiveness 

The effectiveness of the SJU is assessed as high. In general, the SJU has performed its tasks 
and has delivered the required outputs and results as planned: 

(1) 

The set-up of the SJU was effective and timely. In particular, the SJU: 

–  Constituted  its  Administrative  Board,  appointed  the  Executive  Director  and 

established its headquarters 

–  adopted the Master plan on which it established its work programme 

–  negotiated  and  concluded  the  membership  agreements  and  the  multi-lateral 
framework  agreement,  the  general  agreement  with  Commission  and  the  specific 
agreement with Eurocontrol 

–  recruited  the  main  staff  and  established  the  necessary  rules  and  procedures  in 

conformity with EU Staff Regulations 

(2) 

(3) 

The SJU finalised its transformation into an EU Body. Although this change of status 
has a significant positive impact on the SJU and the development phase, it somewhat 
delayed the completion of the SJU setup 

The SJU has organised and is co-ordinating technical activities in accordance with the 
Master plan avoiding fragmentation and duplication of activities 

(4) 

The SJU has mobilised and managing funds from its members 

EN 

8 

   EN 

(5) 

(6) 

The  SJU  has  made  efforts  to  involve  a  wide  range  of  stakeholders  through  the 
membership  process  and  by  setting  up  the  Scientific  Committee  and  the  Strategic 
performance partnership. Moreover, the Administrative Board introduced in 2010 the 
status of “associates”, which aims at enabling the SJU and its members to extend the 
participation in SJU activities to a broader range of stakeholders, in particular SMEs, 
research  institutes  and  academia.  Working  arrangements  have  also  been  established 
with the National Supervisory Authorities and the European Aviation Safety Agency 

The  SJU  has  also  developed  its  international  cooperation  by  launching  technical 
activities  such  as  AIRE  (Atlantic  Interoperability  Initiative  to  reduce  emissions)  and 
OPTIMI  (Oceanic  position  tracking  improvement and  monitoring).  SESAR-NextGen 
interoperability  has  also  been  undertaken  and  will  be  further  carried  out  under  a 
Memorandum of Cooperation between the EU and USA 

3.2.6.  Efficiency 

Although it is too early to assess the overall efficiency of the SJU, the progress made during 
the reference period indicates that the SJU model has proven to be more efficient than if the 
SESAR development phase were to have been implemented through a conventional R&D call 
for proposals. The SJU has been very effective in bringing together the relevant stakeholders 
and  coordinating  ATM  research  efforts  in  the  EU.  The  efficient  implementation  of  the 
development  phase  largely  depends  on  the  SJU's  coordinated  management  of  the  work 
packages and projects also ensuring economies of scale. 

The data collected indicates that the SJU is functioning in an efficient manner when it comes 
to  internal  working  procedures  and  management.  Efficiency  is  expected  to  further  increase 
when new IT systems, especially for financial management (ABAC/SAP), are implemented in 
2010. 

3.2.7. 

Sustainability/utility 

The  collaboration  established  between  stakeholders  in  the  SJU  sets  a  solid  basis  for 
contributing to achieving long-term sustainable benefits for air transport in support of the SES 
objectives.  However,  it  is  too  early  to  judge  if  these  conditions  suffice  to  ensure  long-term 
sustainability. The factors influencing the achievement of long-term objectives include: 

–  A regulatory framework in support of the deployment of technologies and procedures and 

the support of the regulatory authorities 

–  The  buy-in  of  key  actors  (airspace  users,  relevant  staff,  airports,  air  navigation  service 
providers, etc) to deploy and finance deployment of validated technologies and procedures 

–  The  development  of  new  ATM  technologies  in  other  regions  and  their  convergence  with 

European systems 

–  Future economic development and trends in demand for air travel 

4. 

THE MASTER PLAN 

The Master plan is the commonly agreed roadmap maintained and executed by the SJU, for 
shifting to a new ATM operational concept to support SES objectives. It should be considered 

EN 

9 

   EN 

as  the  European  reference  for  a  stable  and  credible  planning  allowing  the  stakeholders  to 
anticipate  new  functionalities  aligning  them  with  investment  cycles  and  planning  retrofit 
activities.  The  Master  plan  is  a  living  document  that  covers  both  the  development  and  the 
deployment phases of SESAR. It steers the work programme for the development phase and, 
similarly, the Master plan will be a key governance tool of the deployment phase.  

4.1. 

Progress made by the SJU on the execution of the Master plan 

The definition  phase  of  SESAR  set the  basis for developing and implementing a new ATM 
concept, addressing R&D and validation activities followed by coordinated deployment. The 
main  deliverable  of  the  SESAR  definition  phase  is  the  SESAR  Master  Plan  that  integrates 
areas of performance improvements, elements of the new ATM concept, cost benefit analysis 
and  lays  out  the  roadmap  for  the  implementation  of  the  operational  improvements  into  a 
coherent  work  programme.  In  line  with  SJU  Regulation,  the  SESAR  Master  Plan  has  been 
transferred from Eurocontrol to the SJU on 7.11.2008. 

On  30.03.2009,  the  Council  endorsed  the  SESAR  Master  Plan  as  the  initial  version  of  the 
Master  plan  providing  the  roadmap  for  the  development  and  deployment  phases  of  the 
SESAR programme. The Council also confirmed that ATM modernisation and the proposed 
timelines  for  its  achievement  remain  a  high  political  priority  for  the  EU.  The  SJU 
Administrative Board adopted the Master plan on 12.06.2009. 

4.1.1.  Current level of execution 

(1) 

Development phase 

The  SJU's  research  and  development  activities  were  launched  on  3.06.2009.  One  year  later, 
85%  of  the  300  projects  have  been  launched  with  about  160  projects  having  started  actual 
R&D work. For the most advanced projects the first deliverables have already been submitted 
to the SJU. Currently, through the SJU, 1500 experts from 16 members in 17 different States 
are working to develop and validate the future European ATM system. 

Today's  priority  is  achieving  quick  benefits  from  early  results  on  information  management, 
route assignment and guidance as well as on the airborne side of trajectory management. The 
SJU is expected to deliver the first validated technologies by early 2012.  

(2) 

Deployment phase 

The Master plan currently defines 3 implementation packages which build upon each other: 

–  Implementation  Package  I  (IP1)  contains  the  basic  validated  functionalities  and 
technologies of the SESAR operational concept that do not require further research and are 
available to be deployed. IP1 sets the baseline for the future deployment of more advanced 
functionalities 

–  Implementation  Package  II  (IP2)  is  composed  of  ATM  elements  which  need  further 
that  can  be  proposed  for  standardization  and 

research  and  development  and 
implementation as of 2014 

–  Implementation  Package  III  (IP3)  is  composed  of  the  most  advanced  elements  of  the 
SESAR operational concept  allowing the  full transition to the  4D trajectory  management 
and time based aircraft operations, for deployment beyond 2020 

EN 

10 

   EN 

At  this  stage  of  the  programme  only  IP1  deployment  is  being  performed  by  different  ATM 
actors. All enablers for IP1 operational improvements have been validated and industrialized 
and  are  either  ready  for  deployment  or  already  deployed.  IP1  aims  at  delivering  short  term 
improvements to the current European ATM system and at making it more coherent through 
implementation  of  best  practices,  better  coordination  and  the  preparation  for  trajectory  and 
time based operations. 

IP1 is a key deployment issue as any delay in the implementation of short term initiatives is a 
major  risk  for  the  SESAR  programme.  Responding  to  the  urgent  need  to  steer  IP1 
deployment,  the  Commission  has  set  up  an  IP1  Steering  Group  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Single  Sky  Committee  and  with  the  support  of  Members  States,  the  SJU,  Eurocontrol  and 
stakeholders. The group was established on 27.04.2010 as an ad-hoc working structure with 
the objective to oversee IP1 deployment. The IP1 Steering Group will make recommendations 
to  the  Commission,  EU  Member  States,  Eurocontrol,  the  SJU  and  private  investors  (Air 
navigation  service  providers,  airlines,  airports)  to  reduce  any  gaps  between  the  deployment 
plan, as laid down in the Master plan, and the reality. 

(3)  Master plan updates 

The  Council  requested  that  the  SJU  should  submit  the  first  update  of  the  Master  plan  by 
March  20109.  The  SJU  delivered  the  expected  proposal  to  its  Administrative  Board,  which 
discussed it on 30.04.2010. The scope of this first update was limited as it did not impact the 
overall planning or the necessary investments or the expected performance and consisted of10: 

–  The refinement of IP1 operational improvements 

–  The introduction of regulatory and standardization roadmaps 

–  The update of the risk management plan 

EU's Single Sky Committee on 7.05.2010 and Eurocontrol's Stakeholders Consultancy Group 
on  17.05.2010  approved  the  proposal  without  any  change.  The  SJU  Administrative  Board 
adopted the proposal on 12.07.2010. 

Future updates are expected every 18 to 24 months, which should adequately allow reflecting 
the progress achieved while ensuring the stability of the document and stakeholders' buy-in. 
The next update of the Master plan could address the link between the performance plan (high 
level  needs)  and  the  Master  plan  (technological  response  to  the  need  for  improving  the 
network performance). 

9 
10 

Council Resolution of 30.03.2009, paragraph 3 
https://www.atmmasterplan.eu 

EN 

11 

   EN