SLOVAKIA AND Croatia, are on the verge of becoming the newest members of Eurocontrol, with the acceptance of their membership applications by the air-traffic-control organisation's Permanent Commission.
Membership now has to be confirmed by domestic parliamentary ratification procedures, and Eurocontrol says that it hopes that both countries will become members by the end of the year.
Slovakia has been a participant in the Central Flow Management Unit (CFMU) and the European Air Traffic Control Harmonisation and Integration Programme (EATCHIP), since it broke away from the Czech Republic at the beginning of 1993. The Eastern European country signed a co-operation agreement with Eurocontrol on 23 May.
Croatia became involved in the CFMU and EATCHIP in June 1993, and applied for accession to Eurocontrol in February 1994.
Membership should also follow shortly for Romania and Spain. The organisation's director general Yves Lambert says that the accession of the new member states strengthens the "-foundation for the creation of a European air-traffic management system".
Source: Flight International
