Following the agreement between EUROCONTROL and the European Defence Agency (EDA) signed in 2013, both organisations have started a close cooperation on the SESAR programme. In compliance with the initial agreement, the cooperative work has been updated by the two organisations for the years 2017-2018 in order to accommodate the tasks as defined in the SESAR 2020 programme.
The work programme makes EUROCONTROL’s expertise in civil-military ATM coordination available to EDA to facilitate EDA’s role regarding the coordination of military views in the context of the Single European Sky (SES) and its interface towards the EU institutions.
During the implementation of the previous joint work programme, the EDA-EUROCONTROL cooperation successfully contributed to the provision of harmonised military inputs to the 2015 ATM Master Plan update campaign, supported Member States bidding for EU co-financing in INEA calls and provided technical impact analysis on the SESAR deployment programme and EASA regulatory material under development.
“The needs of military aviation often go beyond the scope of civil aviation,” said Frank Brenner, Director General of EUROCONTROL. “To work effectively, European airspace management must address both military and civil airspace user needs with coordinated processes and consultation between civilian and military stakeholders. EUROCONTROL and EDA are working together to contribute to this process”.
“To preserve military access to all airspace, it remains essential that we develop harmonised low-cost interoperable SESAR solutions, including standardisation and certification processes, and that we provide common mitigation actions”, said Jorge Domecq, Chief Executive of the European Defence Agency. “Moreover the deployment phase of SESAR offers an opportunity for the military, to avail itself of funding to enhance their ATM technology, when appropriate. This has already been the case for INEA Call 2015, whereby 14 military projects submitted through EDA have been awarded funds adding up to a total of €53.5 million, which is roughly 10.5% of total funds awarded.”
EUROCONTROL and EDA have been working closely together since 2008 to ensure improved coordination and cooperation between civil and military air traffic, moving towards a Single European Sky for both military and civil air transport.
For further information, please contact:
Kyla Evans
Head of Corporate Communications
EUROCONTROL
Tel: +32 2 729 51 51
press@eurocontrol.int
www.eurocontrol.int
Eric Platteau
Head of Media & Communications
European Defence Agency
Tel: +32 2 504 28 23
eric.platteau@eda.europa.eu
www.eda.europa.eu