ECAC The European Civil Aviation Conference

1. ECAC The European Civil Aviation Conference

2. The European Civil Aviation Conference was founded in 1955 as an intergovernmental organization. It seeks to harmonize civil aviation policies and practices amongst its Member States and, at the same time, promote understanding on policy matters between its Member States and other parts of the world. ECAC's mission is the promotion of the continued development of a safe, efficient and sustainable European air transport system.

3. ECAC works closely and cooperatively with other regional organizations and individual Contracting States of ICAO, including the United States, on a range of civil aviation issues of common interest, including training activities in the security, safety and environmental fields. ECAC also conducts, at regular intervals, international symposia, workshops, seminars and training events. ECAC meets in Plenary Session once every three years. The Triennial Session establishes ECAC' s work program and budget for the next three years. The latest Triennial Session was held in 2009 and adopted the work program for 2010 to 2012.

4. Items are considered for inclusion into ECAC' s work program if: • the subject is of importance and interest to a large number of Member States or to other European organizations; • an acceptable solution to the problems involved seems possible; • the results expected to be achieved can make an effective contribution, in particular to the work of the European Commission and to ICAO.

5. ECAC' s forty-four Directors General of Civil Aviation meet at regular intervals, typically three times each year, to review, discuss and resolve policy issues. On a yearly basis, the ECAC Forum takes place and this gives Directors General an opportunity for informal strategic discussions on issues of topical importance. The ECAC Co-ordinating Committee, which steers ECAC' s business between these meetings, comprises the President of ECAC, elected for a three-year term of office, three Vice-Presidents and up to seven 'Focal Points', all of whom are Directors General of Civil Aviation taking responsibility for leading specific fields of ECAC activity, with the help of specialist working groups, task forces etc.

6. The Joint Aviation Authorities Training Organization (JAA-TO) is an Associated Body of ECAC, presently offering training courses in aviation safety with a focus on European rules and regulations. The small ECAC Secretariat, under the direction of its Executive Secretary, comprises a multinational team of experts with wide experience in all aspects of civil aviation. ECAC is based in Paris, and its working languages are English and French.

7. History The opening meeting of the Conference on Co-ordination of Air Transport in Europe (CATE) was convened in the Assembly Chamber of the Council of Europe, Strasbourg on 21 April 1954, by Dr Edward Warner, President of the Council of ICAO, in the presence of Mr Léon Marchal, Secretary General of the Council of Europe. Stemming from a resolution adopted the previous year by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, the CATE concluded on 8 May 1954 with a decision to set up the "European Civil Aviation Conference". ECAC held its inaugural session in Strasbourg from 29 November to 16 December 1955.

8. In the early years, the bulk of ECAC's work was handled in Plenary Sessions, held annually and lasting between two and three weeks. In between those sessions, the work was guided by what was termed "the ECAC Bureau", comprised initially of the President and three Vice-Presidents and later increased to include up to seven Vice-Presidents. A prime objective of ECAC from the outset was to develop a multilateral agreement for scheduled services. Despite intensive efforts, fundamental differences on how to deal with route rights and capacity sharing led to the setting in 1959 of a less ambitious goal. The Committee on Co-ordination and Liberalisation (COCOLI) was established in 1959.

9. 1955-65s there was the first increase in ECAC membership, with Cyprus joining in 1969. It also saw a major re-structuring of working arrangements, with the creation of a Co-ordinating committee. The first formal meeting of Directors General took place in April 1967. The major preoccupation of ECAC during the decade was the rapid development of the non-scheduled service market, particularly on the North Atlantic. Intensive negotiations involving ECAC, the United States and Canada continued over several years and culminated in the "Ottawa Declaration" of 1972, which established a common set of principles for the operation of North Atlantic charters. In 1979 The EUROPOLWorking Group was established.

10. Work in the facilitation and security areas intensified. Of particular significance in the facilitation field was a decision taken in 1985 to publish a Manual of ECAC recommendations. That year also saw the adoption of a major ECAC policy statement in the field of aviation security, which was later added to the facilitation manual to form Doc 30, ECAC's comprehensive policy document on facilitation and security matters.

11. Another landmark in ECAC's history was the holding, for the first time, of a meeting at Ministerial level. Serious air traffic congestion called for urgent remedial action and led in 1988 to the bringing together of Ministers of Transport in an ECAC framework. This first meeting, held in Frankfurt, was followed by five further Ministerial meetings, Paris (1990), London (1992), Copenhagen (1994 and 1997) and Brussels (2000). Through these meetings, a political impetus was given to the establishment of a European Central Flow Management Unit, the EATCHIP and APATSI strategies were adopted, followed by the ATM 2000+ strategy leading to the construction of the 'Single European Sky'.

12. In the economic area, the decade was marked by the completion in 1987 of two International Agreements, dealing respectively with capacity sharing and tariffs. These agreements constituted a significant step in the European liberalization process, one that both ECAC and the European Community built on in the years that followed. Another piece of pioneering work was the development within the TARPOL group of a Code of Conduct for Computer Reservation Systems.

13. The North Atlantic dialogue continued, with policy on computer reservation system regulation becoming the major theme. The MOU (memorandum of understanding) on North Atlantic pricing was revised and renewed a number of times, until in October 1991 it lapsed, largely as a result of liberal tariff approval regimes concluded bilaterally between several ECAC Member States and the United States.

14. A revised version of ECAC's former Constitution was adopted in 1993. Introducing greater flexibility, the new version recognized the EATCHIP and APATSI Project Boards, and the Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA), as associated ECAC bodies. In keeping with the terms of its revised Constitution, ECAC adopted in 1994 a statement of medium-term objectives, which formed the basis for its work program.

16. ECAC Member States are: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, Ukraine and United Kingdom.

17. The ECAC inaugural session, which was held in Strasbourg at the end of 1955, established a Constitutional Commission which considered the formal establishment and status of the "Conference" as it is usually called, its Rules of Procedure and its relationship with ICAO as well as with those European governmental and non-governmental agencies whose task might be closely associated with that of ECAC.

18. When discussing its constitution, the Conference agreed that ECAC should be: • a completely independent agency; • a body subordinate to ICAO and entirely integrated with that Organization, as anticipated in Article 55(a) of the Chicago Convention; • a body of intermediate status, as contemplated in CATE Recommendation No. 28, which would formulate its own work program, call its own meetings and establish their agenda, but would work in the closest connection with ICAO and would use the services of the ICAO Secretariat.

19. On ECAC first session were set the objects of the conference. They are: to continue the work of the aforesaid Conference and of its own first session, held in November-December 1955; generally to review the development of intra-European air transport with the object of promoting the co-ordination, the better utilization, and the orderly development of such air transport; to consider any special problem that may arise in this field; the Conference shall bring within its scope all matters relevant to these objects and shall supersede independent and more specialized arrangements for carrying out said objects.

20. the functions of the Conference shall be consultative and the conclusions and recommendations shall be subject to the approval of governments; • the Conference shall determine its own internal arrangements and procedures, including the formation of: • groups of limited membership to study and discuss matters presenting special interest to certain members only; • committees of experts to deal with specific aspects of intra-European air transport; • states should be represented at meetings of the Conference by delegations in number and rank suitable for handling the problems to be discussed, it being understood that heads of delegations would normally be officials of high level;

21. the Conference shall maintain close liaison with ICAO. It shall also establish relations with any other governmental or non-governmental international organization concerned with European air transport; • the Conference will, at least at the outset, not establish a separate secretariat of its own, but requests the Council of ICAO to provide, to the extent practicable: • secretariat services for studies, meetings, or otherwise; • maintenance of records of the meetings, correspondence, etc., in the ICAO Paris Office. • ECAC' s main missionis the promotion of the continued • development of a safe, efficient and sustainable European • air transport system.

22. SafetySafety has always been one of the cornerstones of the ECAC program, and it remains today a very busy area of its work. Europe's air transport system is safe and reliable, but it is important to make sure that this high standard is maintained and that the system is further improved where and when the need is identified. Safety matters fall under the aegis of the ECAC Focal Point for Safety, Heine Richardsen, Director General of Civil Aviation in Norway. Lead responsibility for Safety Matters within the ECAC Secretariat lies with Peter Kirk.

23. Current Safety Activities As Europe's longest-standing aviation body, ECAC has for many decades promoted the development in the region of a safe air transport system. The means by which it has done so have evolved over time, as the legal and institutional landscape has itself evolved, and in particular as safety regulation has developed at the European Union level, including with the establishment of EASA. In several key respects this regulation has been built explicitly on arrangements first established by ECAC, most evidently in EASA's debt to the Joint Aviation Authorities, and the inheritance by the EU of the SAFA program.

24. The maintenance of a high level of safety on a pan-European basis The maintenance of a high level of safety on a pan-European basis, a key objective of the ECAC work program, involves taking fully into account the safety interests of those ECAC States which are not also members of EASA. This area of ECAC's activity tends to be characterized in terms of the organization serving as a "bridge" between its EU and non-EU Member States, providing a means by which all States can enjoy access to appropriate programs and support. This involves close cooperation with many parties, notably the European Commission, EASA, and EUROCONTROL, in ways that do not trespass upon the competencies of any.

25. SecuritySecurity is one of the three strategic priorities of ECAC, and represents a key area of ECAC activities. Maintaining high standards of security while at the same time anticipating new and emerging threats are serious challenges facing all Member States and the industry. In this context, ECAC's security activities are multi-faceted: they include the development of recommendations and good practices by several groups, and the management and implementation of four operational programs. ECAC's Focal Point for Security is Frank Durinckx, Director General for Civil Aviation in Belgium Lead responsibility for Security within the ECAC Secretariat lies with Patricia Reverdy

27. External Relations It falls within the responsibilities of the President of ECAC to establish and maintain Member States' relations with ECAC's sister organizations in Africa, the Arab World, and Latin America and with other governmental and non-governmental organizations in the civil aviation field and with States worldwide, reflecting the fact that these relations are of great importance to ECAC.

28. ECAC works in very close co-operation with governmental organizations such as the • Council of Europe; • European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA); • EUROCONTROL; • European Parliament; • European Union; • International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO); • International Transport Forum; • Organization for Economic Co-operation; • Development (OECD) Universal Postal Union.

29. Obviously, ECAC has always had a special working relationship with ICAOand represents the interests of its Member States at ICAO Assemblies and other special events. ECAC has a strong record of contributing to the work of ICAO in the context of producing global solutions to global air transport issues.

30. ECAC also works in very close co-operation with non-governmental organizations such as the: • African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC); • Arab Civil Aviation Commission (ACAC); • Latin American Civil Aviation Commission (LACAC). • Relations with these organizations are strong, inter alia through bilateral cooperation agreements and joint work programs and activities.

31. Representatives of different organizations are systematically invited to participate in ECAC meetings in the various fields of the organization's activities. Its working relations with a wide circle of organizations, representing all parts of the air transport industry, including consumer interests, allow ECAC to be a forum for discussion of every major civil aviation topic.