Air traffic management in the aviation policy of the European Union

Abstract

For over two decades, the European Union and its Member States have been working towards a creation of the Single European Sky (SES), which is an ambitious programme to upgrade the air traffic management (ATM) system. The rationale behind initiating legislation and research and development activities in this field in 2000 was to reduce the existing fragmentation of the ATM sector between States, civil and military air navigation service providers and technical systems in use. Consequently, the launch of the SES initiative by the European Commission caused that issues of the ATM were incorporated into the scope of the EU aviation policy. The aim of this article is to present the progress made so far in the creation of the Single European Sky, given the issues resulting mainly from supranational character of the EU actions. The author analysed the ongoing changes in the priorities of the SES initiative, as well as the failures encountered in meeting the political goals of this complex endeavour, which will determine the future of the air traffic management in Europe.