EUROCONTROL welcomes EC proposal to strengthen the Network Manager as part of SES2+

EUROCONTROL welcomes the proposal of the European Commission to strengthen Network Management with the aim to accelerate the implementation of the Single European Sky and promote efficiency of the European air traffic management network as a whole.

The European Commission’s proposals, contained in a Communication to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions proposes strengthening the role of the Network Manager, a function EUROCONTROL has been performing since 2011, and which has delivered tangible results in terms of flight efficiency and route capacity. The Communication proposes extending the Network Manager functions to include Centralised Services. Centralised Services are ANS support services or air traffic management functions which, if exercised at central European or network level, could bring significant benefits in cost-effectiveness and harmonisation.

“We believe that Centralised Services offer a real opportunity to introduce market mechanisms to support efficiency and improve the competitiveness of European ATM,” said Frank Brenner, Director General of EUROCONTROL. “By setting up some Centralised Services at central pan-European level, our aim is to ensure the implementation of high-tech equipment, avoiding duplications and fragmentation.”

Centralised Services will contribute to improve the global performance of ATM in Europe and help to reduce costs. In addition, it will further support the needs of the airlines, the airports, military airspace users and the Functional Airspace Blocks.

This new initiative is an example of the fruitful cooperation between the EU and EUROCONTROL as foreseen in the High Level Agreement which was signed in December 2012, to expand the activities of the Network Manager to the airspace of all of EUROCONTROL’s 39 member states.