Activites

• 2007/03/02 Final act published in Official Journal
  • Regulation 2007/219
  • OJ L 064 02.03.2007, p. 0001
• #2787
• 2007/02/27 Council Meeting
• 2007/02/27 End of procedure in Parliament
• 2007/02/27 Act adopted by Council after consultation of Parliament
• 2006/11/14 Results of vote in Parliament
  • Results of vote in Parliament
  • T6-0484/2006 summary

    The European Parliament adopted a resolution drafted by Erna HENNICOT-SCHOEPGES (EPP-ED, LU) making several amendments to the Commission’s proposal on the Joint Undertaking for the European air traffic management system (SESAR). It clarified the timetable and three separate phases in terms of time period and content. Further proposed amendments deal with issues like safeguards for financial participation by the private sector, potential conflicts of interest, the Statutes of the Joint Undertaking and their review, the procedure for the accession of new members and voting rights on the administrative board. Parliament also added amendments on the role of the European Parliament. The principal amendments were as follows:- a new paragraph was added to Article 1 with the aim of clearly defining the three phases of SESAR (a "definition phase", a "development phase" and a "deployment phase") in terms of time-scale and of what should be achieved. Each phase should lay down the main elements of its content and for the deployment phase the legal provisions should be stated in a separate proposal.-the development phase will start on 1 January 2008, once the Council has endorsed the ATM Master Plan, and end on 31 December 2013. The deployment phase will start on 1 January 2014 and end on 31 December 2020 and will comprise large-scale production and implementation of the new air traffic management infrastructure;- Parliament introduced a review clause, which it deemed necessary judging from the experience of the GALILEO Joint Undertaking. The scope, governance, funding and duration of the Joint Undertaking will be reviewed by the Council, in accordance with the development of the project and the ATM Master Plan. A new clause stated that, if the Commission considers it necessary or if either the European Parliament or the Council requests, under the comitology procedure, the revision of the Regulation or of the statutes of the Joint Undertaking, the Commission shall submit the appropriate legal proposal in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Treaty.- whereas the Commission had proposed that the seat of the Joint Undertaking should be located in Brussels, MEPs said that the decision on the seat should be taken by the European Council, in accordance with the principles underlying the decision on the seat of Agencies as set out in Council Regulation No 58/2003;- Parliament deleted the provision stating that the Joint Undertaking shall be recognised as an international organisation;- a new Article 5a was introduced stipulating that the accession of new members to the Joint Undertaking, including members from non-EU countries, should be subject to the approval of Parliament and the Council;- Parliament and the Council should be kept fully informed of the results and working methods of the Joint Undertaking;- Parliament should have observer status on the Administrative Board. It also proposed a better balance of representation and weighting of votes within the Board, linked to the financial contribution of each representative; - the report introduced a number of legal provisions adopted by Parliament with regard to the proposed regulation on the term of office of the Executive Director of the European GNSS Supervisory Authority (see CNS/2005/0084): the term of office should be five years, renewable for a maximum period of three years;- the Executive Director will be appointed from a list of at least three candidates proposed by the Commission and Eurocontrol, based on the result of the public recruitment competition and after hearing the opinion of the representative appointed by the European Parliament. The Administrative Board will take its decision by a majority of three-quarters of its members.- Parliament introduced a new provision in the Annex with a view to clarifying the concept of conflict of interest.- the Annex also contains a new provision on the criteria that the Administrative Board must take into account in proposing whether to authorise negotiations on accession with a public or private undertaking or body, given the agreement referred to in the third indent of Article 1 (2) of the Annex; - the Commission should report to the European Parliament and the Council every three years on the application of the Regulation and, if appropriate, should propose amendments to it.

• 2006/10/27 Committee report tabled for plenary, 1st reading/single reading
  • A6-0382/2006
• 2006/10/23 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
• #2735
• 2006/06/08 Council Meeting
  • 2735 summary

    The Council reached a general approach on a proposal for a regulation on the establishment of a Joint Undertaking to develop the new generation European air traffic management system (SESAR – single European sky air traffic management and research).The EU and Eurocontrol will be funding members of the Joint Undertaking but membership will also be open to the European Investment bank and public and private companies including those of third countries that contribute in funding the project.

• 2006/05/18 Referral to associated committees announced in Parliament
• #2721
• 2006/03/27 Council Meeting
  • 2721 summary

    The Council took note of a progress report presented by the Presidency on a regulation on the establishment of a joint undertaking to develop a new generation European air traffic management system (SESAR = single European sky air traffic management and research). It invited the Permanent Representatives Committee to prepare the dossier with a view to reaching a general approach at its meeting in June.SESAR is the technological part of the "single European sky" initiative, launched in 2004 to reform the organisation of air traffic control. It will introduce new communication, control and computing technologies between the ground and aircraft which will optimise the work of air-traffic controllers and pilots. SESAR is aimed at boosting the safety and environmental performance of air transport and at ensuring that Europe remains at the forefront of the world aviation market. The Commission adopted its communication and a proposal for the regulation in November 2005.

• 2006/01/17 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• #2695
• 2005/12/01 Council Meeting
  • 2695
• 2005/11/25 Legislative proposal published
  • COM(2005)0602 summary

    PURPOSE: to develop a new generation of European air traffic management through the creation of a Joint Undertaking, SESAR.PROPOSED ACT: Council Regulation.CONTENT: projections for the development of air traffic in Europe show that it should more than double in the next 20 years, or even triple in some regions, particularly in Central Europe. Air transport contributes EUR 220 billion to European gross domestic product and employs 3.1 million people. Developing an efficient, fully-integrated and inter-operable air transport infrastructure is therefore becoming a major European priority. One of the key areas in which Europe needs to maintain safety standards as well as innovation relates to air traffic management. The current air management structure is characterised by out-dated equipment based on varying, national norms. This has an impact not only on the EU’s ability to compete with its major industrial competitors such as the United States, but in the long-term could impact on safety issues relating to air transport. Further, the cost of continuing with the status quo, would be significant. The cost of the European air traffic control system currently runs at about EUR 7 billion per year. If the predicted doubling or even tripling of air traffic should be realised then, under a simple trend-based scenario, air traffic control could cost between EUR 14 billion and EUR 18 billion per year in 2020.In order to address the challenges relating to air traffic management, the Commission is presenting this Council Regulation, the purpose of which is to set up a Joint Undertaking to be known as SESAR, based on Art 171 of the TEU.  The specific objective of SESAR is to develop the new generation of European air traffic management system. Under this mandate, it will be responsible for developing the kind of technologies needed to establish a fully functioning European air traffic management system. At the same time it will be responsible for developing methods of organisation and industrial components that are capable of ensuring the safety and fluidity of air transport in the next 20 years. Given the scale and the ambition of the task, the Commission proposes that SESAR be compared to other major industrial projects with high technological value such as GALILEO (satellite radio-navigation) and ITER (nuclear fusion). As with GALILEO and ITER, SESAR will combine research efforts, as well as acting as a catalyst for Europe’s innovation capacity. A further feature of SESAR will be its role in making European air traffic control infrastructure the most modern and high-performance infrastructure in the world. In addition, SESAR will allow for the pooling and rationalisation of a modernised air traffic control system, which upstream, creates economies of scale and downstream, brings significant benefits in terms of the operation and maintenance of these systems. The technological lead conferred by SESAR on the European aeronautics industry will put it in a position of strength on export markets. It will also allow European aircraft to compete with their foreign competitors. Nor, must the impact of SESAR on safety be underestimated. The current fragmentation of systems and operational procedures combined with ageing technologies are not sustainable. A modern, safe, standardised and reliable air traffic control infrastructure will bring significant benefits in terms of the safety of air transport. An additional advantage is the positive impact the deployment of SESAR will have on the environment. It has been estimated that the savings in terms of the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions could be between 4% and 6% - even though this needs to be set off against the expected significant increase in the number of flights.Having carefully considered all the available options, the Commission is proposing that SESAR be set up as a Joint Undertaking (please refer to accompanying document). The establishment of SESAR as a Joint Undertaking will give it a flexible and reactive structure with a legal personality so that it can conclude the contracts required to develop the European air traffic control system. A Joint Undertaking is in line with the Lisbon Agenda in that it allows for public and private resources to be combined for a joint objective, the idea being that the programme will gradually and irrevocably be taken over by industry.In order to bring the project forward, the creation and establishment of SESAR is foreseen in a number of stages. The first being the Definition Phase 2005-2007. During this phase a plan for the modernisation of air traffic management in Europe will be drawn up. The different technological steps needed will be defined as will the priorities for modernisation and the timetable for operational implementation. Significantly, the Joint Undertaking will be set up before the end of the definition phase so that it can appropriate the modernisation plan being drawn up and prepare the resulting work programme. The following step will be the creation of the Implementation Phase 2008-2020, which will consist of two successive stages, namely Development 2008-2013 and Deployment 2014- 2020. Under the deployment stage the new system will be installed with a widespread implementation of the related functions. The splitting up of the project into phases is significant in that it has an impact on the funding of SESAR. For example, during the Definition Phase, funding will stem from both the EU (EUR 30 million) and from Eurocontrol (EUR 30 million). During the Development Phase funding will be split equally between the Community, Eurocontrol and Industry – or in other words each will contribute EUR 100 million between 2008-2013. Lastly, during the Deployment Phase SESAR should be fully funded though industry, at which stage the Joint Undertaking will be required to transform into an essentially private body. As far as the Community funding is concerned is will be sourced from both the EU’s RT&D Framework Programmes as well as from the trans-European networks programmes. After the Definition Phase, however, the Community’s financial contribution is strictly limited to the duration of the new financial perspective, 2007-2013.To conclude, a number of studies have clearly shown that the only solution in Europe for developing the new generation of air traffic control systems is to pool energies in a major industrial project. SESAR will represent real progress in terms of efficiency by making technologies available, which will optimise the capacities of machines and people. In addition, SESAR will allow for the extensive standardisation and inter-operability of the systems installed. On a final point, SESAR will greatly increase the safety of air transport, which is currently threatened by the obsolescence of equipment and the lack of standardisation of air traffic control in Europe.

  • DG Energy and Transport, BARROT Jacques

Documents

• Legislative proposal published: COM(2005)0602
• Debate in Council: 2695
• Debate in Council: 2721
• Debate in Council: 2735
• Committee report tabled for plenary, 1st reading/single reading: A6-0382/2006
• Results of vote in Parliament: Results of vote in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T6-0484/2006
• : Regulation 2007/219
• : OJ L 064 02.03.2007, p. 0001

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)