The implementation of Single European Sky is once again in jeopardy

The European Commission is currently developing one of the centrepieces of the Single European Sky (SES) legislation: the legal framework concerning the performance and charging scheme for air navigation services for the period of 2015-2019. Considering the previous under-performance of the Member States, it is unacceptable that due to their pressure the Commission’s new proposals are not
only lacking ambition, but will also prevent the realisation of the high level goals for SES by a considerable margin.

Single European Sky is considered as the single largest pan-European project promising tangible benefits to European mobility, competitiveness and the environment. Under the Single Sky regulation, air navigation service providers are required to improve their overall performance and efficiency while harmonising their services by creating so-called Functional Airspace Blocks (FABs). It is now more than a decade since the European Commission first adopted proposals for a Single European Sky. All initiatives to achieve a harmonised and efficient European airspace have so far failed to deliver. The successful implementation now depends on a strong legislation on the so-called second Reference Period, covering the timeframe from 2015-2019.

The Heads of the airline associations, AEA, EBAA, ELFAA, ERA and IACA comment:
“European airspace users are negatively impacted and therefore extremely concerned by the lack of achievements: the Single European Sky needs to be put back on track by stronger leadership from the European Commission and enforced commitment by the Member States. The currently proposed legislation does not ensure that the SES high-level goals are delivered and therefore needs to be improved. In order to break the deadlock situation, we call the European Commission to withdraw its proposal regarding the performance and charging schemes and to work on a more appropriate framework in line with the SES high level goals.”