When I arrived in Paris in 1983 as a freshly hired ICAO Technical Officer RAC/SAR, the relationship between EUROCONTROL and ICAO was tense to say the least. ICAO, this all-important world-wide body, a specialized organization of the UN, was becoming ever more cumbersome and a thorn in the eye of some European states who back then believed that Europe’s aviation needs would be better served by something like EUROCONTROL. They were not aiming to replace the basic rule-making functions of ICAO but when it came to things like flow management, Europe was flexing its muscles… There was a group dealing with ATFM in Brussels and at ICAO in Paris for example and though the people attending both were usually the same, the things they said were often widely different.
I recall several meetings in Brussels that I attended as an ICAO expert and the position we had to represent was far from being helpful to the cause of EUROCONTROL.
As the budget of ICAO diminished year after year and their processes slowed to a crawl, the significance of EUROCONTROL grew at the same rate. Significantly, EUROCONTROL had never had the same low opinion of ICAO as was the case in the reverse direction. Right from the start EUROCONTROL accepted that changing certain rules required action from ICAO and they also sought to work well with ICAO’s regional bodies like the EANPG (European Air Navigation Planning Group). True, some of the changes proposed by EUROCONTROL did not pass muster by the more formalistic ICAO process but in time a rather well functioning cooperation came into being.
Soon, the ICAO member States also realized that without money ICAO could not function so at first resourcing was brought back to the required level and thereafter they set out to reform the creaking old machinery to create the new, more business efficiency oriented ICAO we know to-day.
ICAO had to face another difficult “client”, namely the US, where the FAA has always been a bit of its own master. This was an interesting thing since some of the most fundamental ICAO documents (including DOC 4444) had been originally been based on material developed by the FAA’s predecessor. Anyway, I guess the Americans were not too keen in subjugating their aviation system to rules some of which were arrived at within ICAO as the result of agreements reflecting not what was the best but what could be agreed on the world-wide podium. American airports have only started to use the ICAO standard markings and signs a few years ago…
ICAO must have had a feeling of déjà vue on seeing the rise if the European Union and their drive to set European rules themselves… Luckily, though at first the EU had some problems in understanding how the ICAO machinery worked, cooperation with ICAO was reasonably smooth. Of course Europe is now facing a problem that was giving rise to a lot of frustration in the past with the slowness of ICAO… Changing an ICAO document is a long and difficult process. Changing a community rule once it has been approved is a nightmare compared to which the ICAO machinery looks like kindergarten…
Anyway, the European Commission has had an office in Montreal and an appointed representative to ICAO since September 2005 (though it was officially inaugurated only in June 2007…) but now the cooperation is being raised to an all new level.
European Commission Vice-President Siim Kallas has signed, together with the Hungarian State Secretary for Infrastructure Pál Völner, a Memorandum of Cooperation providing a framework for enhanced cooperation with ICAO. The Memorandum provides the basis for stronger EU involvement with ICAO.
Vice-President Siim Kallas, responsible for transport, said: “This Memorandum of Cooperation will create a win–win situation for all parties involved. ICAO will benefit from more resources and expertise; Europe will benefit from ICAO expertise and will strengthen its position in this global forum.”
The Memorandum will allow Europe to contribute to the preparatory work for policy and standard setting in ICAO in the fields of safety, security, environment and air traffic management and to make better use of resources by sharing information and coordinating efforts.
The activities under this framework will initially focus on safety, and later other areas of interest will also be covered — such as security, environment and air traffic management.
Stronger European involvement in the preparatory phases in the security area will facilitate the adoption of policy decisions to fit the needs of all ICAO regions.
It will also help with the development of SESAR, the European air traffic control modernization program. The program aims to develop the new generation air traffic management system capable of ensuring the safety and fluidity of air transport worldwide over the next 30 years. However, global technical standards will need to be set to ensure future systems are truly interoperable. The latest ICAO General Assembly Resolution on international aviation and climate change established an extensive program of further work. Europe’s contribution to this will be enhanced thanks to the new Memorandum.