Having analysed the issues raised at a 20 September conference on the future of aviation regulation in Europe, Commissioner for Transport Jacques Barrot has just announced the creation of a "high-level group" to carry out a strategic review of the whole process. At the conference, which involved not only regulatory agencies but also industry senior executives, Barrot observed: "Today the regulatory system is far from being perfect." But since that time he has become more precise in his criticisms.
Barrot referred to the existing system as "fragmented" despite the European Aviation Safety Agency, which was set up in 2003 to standardise aviation safety regulation across the continent. Launching the working group on 8 November, he said: "I have called this group together to advise the Commission how the conclusions of the conference can be realised and the current fragmented regulatory field can be unified under the Community framework."
Barrot added: "It is evident that some organisations will have to evolve and enable to reform the current organisation of ATM and safety it is the task of this group to advise us strategically how to reach those goals."
The group is composed of "selected high-level representatives of the European states, air navigation service providers, airspace users, airports and aviation industry", says the Commission. EASA and Eurocontrol are also represented.
The group has been charged with reporting by mid-2007, "with proposals on the public-sector functions in European aviation". The core task is "simplifying the regulatory framework, reforming the related organisations and ensuring the successful participation of the private sector", says the Commission.
Source: Flight International
