Single European Sky. The Commission upgrades the regulatory framework according to the European Green Deal
On 22 September 2020, the European Commission proposed to upgrade the Single European Sky regulatory framework in order to take into account the objectives of the European Green Deal and to modernize the management of European airspace, establishing more sustainable and efficient flightpaths and reducing up to 10% of air transport emissions.
The proposal finds its rationale in that the air traffic management in Europe needs to be reformed to cope both with the sustained growth over the last decade and with the backlashes caused by the recent coronavirus outbreak. Preserving the legal status quo, indeed, could result in additional costs, delays and CO2 emissions. Therefore, since the Green Deal identifies the Single European Sky as one of the key measures to significantly reduce aviation emissions, the Commission decided to restore the negotiations interrupted in 2013 and to revise the initiative, which was launched in 2004 to reduce fragmentation of the airspace over Europe and to improve the performance of air traffic management in terms of safety, capacity, cost-efficiency and the environment.
More particularly, the proposal introduces several changes compared to the former package. First of all, the proposal aims at strengthening the European network and its management to avoid congestion and suboptimal flight routes by establishing a common unit rate for en route services. In the second place, monopolistic air traffic service providers will be allowed to procure air navigation services necessary to control air traffic, in particular data services, whose purchase on a European data market should reduce costs. In return, only the air navigation services that are not provided under market conditions would be subject to economic regulation. Furthermore, in order to strengthen the economic regulation, designated air traffic service providers will be entrusted to draft and submit their performance plans for approval by the competent authority.
The proposal will have to be submitted to the Council and the Parliament for deliberations. After that, and once finally adopted, implementing and delegated acts will need to be prepared to address more detailed and technical matters.
Marco Stillo