Air traffic management (ATM) safety standards and practices, until now, have been set and policed nationally, so there have been wide differences. Seven Eurocontrol safety regulatory requirements (ESARR) that define common practice are key to unifying standards. ESARRs 2, 3, 4 and 5 are published and in the early stages of implementation. ESARR 1 is in draft form. ESARR 7 is under discussion.
Some of the ESARRs are generic, others highly specific, and there is room for air traffic service providers to propose "acceptable means of compliance" with the rules or guidance. At present the compulsion to comply with ESARRs is based on the fact that states are bound by the Eurocontrol Convention, but they will become Community law:
ESARR 1: national ATM safety regulatory framework; ESARR 2: safety measurement and improvement systems, including requirements for reporting and assessment of safety occurrences; ESARR 3: guidelines for ATM safety management systems. Each ATM service provider is required to have a safety management system; ESARR 4: risk assessment and mitigation in ATM, hazard identification and oversight; ESARR 5: ATM services personnel standards and licensing requirements; ESARR 6: software in ATM services - integrity requirements, capability and interface with other systems; ESARR 7: air traffic management procedures. This is not yet drafted, but when it is, it will be generic.Harmonisation and interface of procedures in the system as a whole will be one of the objectives of the regulatory requirements.
Source: Flight International
