Cheaper flight tickets, shorter duration, less pollution. What other effects? Key aspects of the adopted EP resolution on Single European Sky were debated on January 30, 2015 by key institutions and organizations acting in the aviation field in Romania and other member states.



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pictures: Dan Popescu; multimedia editing: Balazs Nitsch-Petioky 



  •  English: Philippe Morin, International Air Transport Association (IATA)  please follow the original broadcasting at the link https://www.ustream.tv/recorded/58207968; time codes: 01.13:00 - 01:35:05)

  • English part II : simultaneous interpretation of the speeches in English (first part) - Speech of Andrei CARSTEA, Operational Control Center Manager, TAROM Romania


Madalina Mihalache, Head of EP Information Office to Romania:
  • Today's participants are: Marian-Jean Marinescu, Member of the EP Transport and Tourism Committee, Vice President of the EPP Group: Virgil Dragos Titea, State Secretary, Romanian Transport Ministry; Andrei Filipoiu, Director - Safety Direction, Romanian Civil Aeronautical Authority; Ion-Aurel Stanciu, Director General of the Romanian Air Traffic Services Administration - ROMATSA; Philippe Morin, Assistant Director EU Affairs IATA
  • Andrei Carstea, Operational Control Center Manager, Romanian Air Transport National Company - TAROM. The moderator will be journalist Dan Carbunaru; Now we have 800 million passengers in Europe, 27,000 flights across Europe
  • We believe that in the future we will see an increase of 3% per year
  • That means the EU will face an unparalleled number of flights
  • In Europe, because of the fragmentation of the air space, there are more kilometers covered by planes than necessary. We estimate that the changes brought by the regulation will decrease costs, save time and fuel.
  • It is important to point out the concern of the European Parliament.

Marian Jean Marinescu, MEP:

  • This is a new program of the EP, trying to put across the information to all the citizens about the effort of the EP in this legislative process
  • I was glad to see that this topic was also selected by the office of the EP to be debated
  • This is the second in a round of conferences. The first was in the Netherlands, in Maastricht.
  • The Single European Sky - what is it? I suppose you know what we want to implement. I was the rapporteur on this topic.
  • Five years ago I tried to introduce a definition and it was quite difficult to do so in discussions with the Council. Finally we managed to do so.
  • The text of the report was passed in the EP and in December last year we had the result of the final negotiations in the Council. The Council and the Parliament will come to negotiations and if they agree
  • Only the Italian Presidency showed the wish to move forward with these topics in the Council
  • We haven't done so far because there were some wishes for these negotiations to be delayed by some member states.
  • There are some differences between the two texts proposed and that is why there have been some attempts to block this report along the way.
  • What is SES? Right now we have in Euro control 25 air traffic units in Europe, 28 members, and service provides, and 65 air traffic control centers. This architecture of the sky is based on national frontiers. Now, we have no national frontiers on land. And it happened in a short period of time compared to SES. In 1985 we saw the disappearance of the first frontiers. In 1999 there were the first talks of the SES, and now is 2015.
  • It was a pretext of member states to delay the achievement of SES. However we could negotiate on a deadline of three years.
  • We covered quite a long way from the three years - and nothing happened. In this direction, we only made small texts.
  • SES will bring various benefits, a gain of time, less fuel, which means less CO2, shorter flights and better organisation of air traffic control. These benefit passengers.
  • There has been a quite heated debate.The millions of passengers are the ones we should think about, they are the one to benefit.
  • As you know, the US have 10.4 million square meters of air space and they have only one air service provider. Europe has 11,5 million sm, but we have 65 air traffic control centers. In Europe. And the US have way more flights than Europe. So you can see it can be improved.
  • There are two national authorities right now - the national air authority, the authority that audits service providers - this is the control authority; and this authority is mentioned by the regulation. The Parliament wants a single authority instead of two. The two national authorities have the same tasks that are handled by the single European authority. The reports asks for the same thing.
  • These authorities often operate within the same premises, often with the same employees.
  • We think the authorities should be completely independent, because they have to control everything in this industry.
  • The council does not agree with our view, it does not agree with our concept of our independence. The council agrees that the authority could be independent.
  • The council says if the authority, the service provider, the airport and the airline adopt the plan, then the plan be implemented. But these bodies are not independent from each other. They are all subordinated to the minister.
  • The Parliament wants to have a body to review the performance of national plans. The Parliament would like this body to be a European economic regulator. Why should we not have an independent European regulator?
  • If these plans are not correct, then the Parliament says the commission should be able to block the plan by starting an examination procedure, which is in place for all documents that need to be approved by the Commission. The Commission should be able to have a financial tool to allow the investments to be synced with technologies. We have a great example - Datalink, which is great for airplanes and was introduced more by airplanes than service providers.
  • The arguments that I had to face: sovereignty - an issue raised by people who oppose the regulation, but we do not have borders on the ground; safety - there is no danger, actually SES improves the safety, it will not diminish it by any means; military - this has lost a lot of weight because military services were much more willing to adopt the system than civil services; staff changes - we don't have concrete proposal yet so we don't know how many centers will be lost and what the implications are for the staff
  • Reducing costs can be achieved by direct routes and a new configuration of the European skies.
  • Air transport contributes to the economic growth of the EU, so we must develop it in such a way as it would bring economic benefits such as connectivity, which means a better economy. We should think of this upper space, of the passengers.


Virgil Dragos Titea, State Secretary, Romania Transport Ministry:
  • Romania has established to authorities working independently since 2006.
  • In January 2014, Romanian Civil Aeronautical Authority took over supervision duties.
  • In the context of EU accession, Romatsa and Bulatsa have collaborated since 2004 to create a FAB, a deal which was applied starting 2012. Its purpose is to allow both states to improve the efficiency of air traffic.
  • The EC found the plan and objectives to be compatible with those at European level. But it was found that the implementation program of all FAB requirements exceeded SES2 and a procedure was launched over failing to comply with these requirements
  • SES2+: Romania supports a quicker application of the SES objectives.
  • A clear division of responsibilities between European authorities would eliminate overlaps in the regulation process.
  • Following the analysis of the initial SES2+ project, Romania supported 2 key proposals: the strengthening of supervision authorities, independent from service providers; but requested the elimination of hierarchical independence, because it would mean the state had no interest in providing services.


Andrei Filipoiu, Director - Safety Direction, Romanian Civil Aeronautical Authority:
  • The main element in my presentation will regard the developments from the field of SES and why it was necessary to have a single European Sky, the need to draft SES2+.
  • SES was an initiative from 2000, a high level working group was put in place in order to analyse if it was possible to have a SES. The working group wrote a proposal to the Commission and the main problem there  - the idea was to have FEB in Europe. Later on, SES1 was developed and was then turned into SES2.
  • SES relies on five fundamental pillars - performance, safety, tech, airport capacity and the human factor.
  • Moving on, we can see that we still need to increase efficiency of NSA efficiency, which overlaps with the existence of a fragmented ATM system, This led to the SES2+ package.
  • SES2+ regards the ineffectiveness of avation services in Europe.
  • In 2014-2015, the management system of air traffic is very specific to each country. We can't still speak of something similar to the USA.
  • SES2+ comes with some novelty elements: increasing the independence of the NSA - a functional independence, which we had since 2006; performance scheme - can be improved, we should see how we can really do that because the level reached is good enough, if we have free market, more competition, then we would see results, we should improve cooperation with the weather services - this is why we really need a really good risk analysis before we go this way; the Agency has more tasks in matters of safety, economics and interoperability
  • Another impact would be that we'd have to insure independence,  better capability and recruitment procedures
  • We support SES2+, we are part of the council's aviation working group.

Ion-Aurel Stanciu, Director General of the Romanian Air Traffic Services Administration - ROMATSA:

  • Our Bulgarian colleagues informed us that Turkey would accept only two entry points, which can create problems.
  • We need to have a dialog and find a solution.
  • The European Commission found that the services provided by the NSAs are inefficient and that the air traffic control system is fragmented - the main area of interest of the SES2+ package.
  • I think we should consider the social impact as well. If we lose 200,000 jobs from the authorities, this would be huge.
  • In order to attain the objectives of SES, ROMATSA has to invest a lot of money. We have a plan and at the end of 2016, when we hope it will be fully implemented, we will have one of the best performing air systems in Europe.
  • We have come up with a performance scheme in four sectors and considered changes to the prices scheme.
  • FABs no longer take into account the land borders and this is one step to prepare us to what will come next.
  • We ROMATSA are supporters of SES2+.
  • I think we need to simplify the existing regulations in order to implement this package. I don't think we have to interfere with the business model of air navigation providers.
  • We have to take into account local cultural specifics.
  • Performance scheme: the local performance targets should be decided at local or FAB level
  • We have to be mindful about trade union strikes and actions that might distort the network.

Philippe Morin, Assistant Director EU Affairs IATA:

  • At IATA, we represent about 240 airlines, 83% of the international traffic, between 2.2-2.5 billion passengers a year.
  • SES is important and there is an emergency to achieve that
  • EU air transport economy amounts to 7.8 million jobs, 475 billion euro
  • In 2012, the fragmentation of European sky late to (...) a waste of more than 6 million CO2
  • SES promises enormous benefits to Europe's environment, economy, businesses, citizens: -10% CO2 emissions, -50% cost of air traffic management, 3x European sky capacity, 10x safety
  • 2012: EUR 12.7 billion - total economic cost of traffic inefficiency; Union-wide actual RoE - 10.6% in 2013
  • 59% more traffic managed in the US, with 39% fewer staff
  • Romania has done a pretty good job in key data - charge reduction of 2.5% in 2015, according to RP2 proposals
  • Romania: progress has been made, but more is needed; cost-base growth is not sustainable; Romanian air transport provides nearly 100,000 jobs and 2 billion USD in GDP; SES is an opportunity for Romanian economy
  • IATA blueprint: essential reforms - the creation of a mature performance system, the rationalization of air traffic management institutional structures, the modernization of the ATM system
  • SES2+: IATA supports the EC on unbundling, real independent regulatory body, setting ambitious targets - advisory procedure; IATA supports the EP in sanctioning mechanisms in case of non-compliance, a bigger role to airlines, setting up an independent authority.

Andrei Carstea, Operational Control Center Manager, Romanian Air Transport National Company - TAROM:
  • TAROM is permanently interested in solutions to improve quality for passengers at least
  • Unjustified crowding of air space is a problem. Another issue is the capacity to serve airports.
  • We have to focus on passengers, because they pay the tickets. The SES2+ will solve many problems
  • Shorter routes will increase the performance. We as companies will now have the possibility of better planning routes.
  • The beneficiaries will be the passengers - they will pay less for tickets, get to their destinations in shorter time, better opportunities for connecting flights.


Marian Jean Marinescu, MEP:

  • FAB's - I don't like them and reality proved me right. There is a swap of sectors. (...) They don't even talk about it anymore.
  • Now, we have air traffic controllers whose activity stop at the borders. Why not completely reshape the air space. It is possible that some countries will not have centers - we don't know that, but it is a possible.
  • We don't know if FAB's are necessary.
  • The free market for support services - I refuse the idea of mandatory separation of activities.
  • Why not try, where it is technically possible, to see a better offer in terms of quality and price.
  • Why should passengers pay for weather services - that should be paid by the state
  • Jobs will be lost naturally, with the introduction of new technology.
  • I do have a sanctioning system, but I also have incentives in mind
  • Jobs will be lost naturally, with the introduction of new technology.
  • With all due respect, I believe this regulation is actually a topic of debate between the industry and administration. Some want to keep the current administration, some may be willing to accept some changes, whether companies want things to progress.
  • Regarding jobs, an impact assessment is needed. I know we, states would have to compensate people who would lose their jobs. But let's allow progress to happen and then compensate for it.

One year ago, on January 30, 2014, the Committee on Transport and Tourism from the European Parliament adopted (26 votes in favour, 1 against, 4 abstentions) the Report on the "Implementation of the Single European Sky (Recast)", by
MEP Marian-Jean Marinescu, Rapporteur of the European Parliament on the implementation of the Single European Sky (2013/0186 (COD)).

"I tried, as much as possible in my proposals, to take into account the opinions of the various stakeholders whom I met in the past months. The vote in the Transport Committee has led to a balanced text”, Marinescu stated, at the time when the report was adopted, according to the parliamentary group website.


"We need to have at heart the 600 million passengers flying all over Europe each year. We need direct routes and a new and efficient airspace architecture. At the same time, we need to meet the requirements to provide an efficient traffic control that would, first of all, secure passengers’ safety. For this, we have to take into account the positions of the companies and of the employees in this sector.", MEP Marinescu added, according to the cited source.


The Single European Sky (SES2+) initiative aims at: increasing the efficiency of the European air space, of the way it is organized and managed, to ensure safer, more fluent and more sustainable air transport in the medium and long run.

The debate organised on 30th January in Bucharest, by the European Parliament Information Office in Romania, aims at raising the dialogue between key public institutions and stakeholders in the aviation field.

Chronology


EurActiv.ro’s interviews on the topic

   VIDEO Marian-Jean Marinescu: "Single European Sky: Cheaper tickets, shorter flights, less pollution, more efficiency”

 

   VIDEO INTERVIU MEP Jacqueline Foster, about SES: more airport infrastructure is needed in the EU member states"

The Single European Sky initiative brings benefits for all the involved parties, no one has to fear the effects, stated MEP Jacqueline Foster (Group of European Conservative and Reformist) in an interview for EurActiv.ro.

 

   VIDEO Gesine Meissner, MEP: "The European governments should cooperate more for more efficient air traffic "

 

Links:

Press release EurActiv.com: "The Single European Sky: an efficient and competitive airspace"

Overview SES2+ : https://www.icb-portal.eu/index.php/test

The legislative procedure file, on the European Legislative Observatory: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/ficheprocedure.do?reference=2013/0186(COD)&l=en

A summary of the final text adopted by the EP: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/summary.do?id=1342362&t=e&l=en

The section dedicated to the SES on the European Commission website: https://ec.europa.eu/transport/modes/air/single_european_sky/index_en.htm