Proposal for a Council Decision on the signing, on behalf of the Union, and provisional application of the Agreement providing a general framework for enhanced cooperation between the European Union and the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation

On 6 October 2011, the Council granted a mandate to the Commission authorising it to open negotiations with the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (Eurocontrol) in order to conclude a cooperation agreement between the European Union (EU) and Eurocontrol.

The Agreement should acknowledge the principles of the Single European Sky (SES), notably the role of the EU as the single regulator for air traffic management (ATM) and the use of the technical expertise of Eurocontrol to help the EU to deliver ATM improvements in Europe in accordance with the SES legal framework and to support the EU in the implementation and development of the SES and other related policies (environment, climate change and research).

The Agreement should also facilitate further institutional reform of Eurocontrol, for example, in establishing a new relationship between Eurocontrol and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), and provide a framework for potentially sensitive issues such as pan-European civil-military cooperation. Based on the negotiating directives of the mandate, a draft agreement was initialled by the two parties on 24 April 2012.

The proposed draft Agreement:

- defines the terms and conditions of enhanced cooperation between the EU and Eurocontrol to support the EU in the implementation and development of ATM in accordance with the SES legal framework and related EU policies

- lists the areas of cooperation concerning the implementation of SES, SESAR and other related EU policies

- defines the forms and mechanisms of cooperation and coordination between the parties including the stakeholder consultation processes.

• Primary Source

EUR-Lex: COM(2012)438: Follow the progress of this document through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2012:438:FIN

European Commission: COM(2012)439: Proposal for a Council Decision on the conclusion of the Agreement providing a general framework for enhanced cooperation between the European Union and the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2012:0439:FIN:EN:PDF

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