WELCOME ADDRESS - 36 TH ECAC TRIENNIAL PLENARY. Dear President of the ICAO Council, Dear Secretary General Fang Liu,

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1 WELCOME ADDRESS - 36 TH ECAC TRIENNIAL PLENARY Dear President of the ICAO Council, Dear Secretary General Fang Liu, Dear President and Secretary General of ECAC, Dear Friends, ladies and gentlemen, I am very privileged to address the Triennial Plenary Assembly of the European Civil Aviation Conference. In fact, exactly six years ago; I addressed you in one of my previous capacities, as Head of Cabinet of Vice President of the European Commission. Today, as Director General of DG MOVE, I am equally pleased and honoured to be here, and I can assure you that my passion and commitment to serve as well as push the interests of European and global aviation has not changed. The ECAC Plenary session is always an important 'rendez-vous' for the European aviation community and no doubt the same is true this time. I am also very happy to see so many colleagues and friends from other regions; it is great to welcome you here in Strasbourg. If we look back at what we have achieved since the last ECAC Plenary session, we can say that both European and global aviation have been doing very well. Last year, we celebrated 25 years of the European Single Aviation Market by surpassing the 1 billion passengers' number, with 10.6m flights. This is a tribute to what open markets can achieve and how connectivity in Europe has significantly improved over that period, when the annual number of passengers rose more than 3 times. Last year was also a great year for global aviation as there were less than 70 casualties in the whole world resulting from aircraft accidents and we managed to keep aviation secure against the constant terror threat present. Profit margins for the aviation sector have also rarely been so generous. Last year, European carriers had collective net profits of 7.8 bn (forecast 2018 is the same) and 2017 also marked the best year for European airports since

2 Passenger traffic grew in Europe 8.1%, by comparison North America - another mature market - grew 4.9%. This makes Europe the fastest growing mature market which allows us to conclude that Europe matters in aviation and has the potential that many thought would not be there anymore. This is good news as the trend continues in 2018! However, let's see how the oil price double now what it was last year - and other factors, like higher labour costs or an upturn in the interest rate cycle could impact this in the medium term. Last year, for the first time, there were globally more than 4 bn passengers and the IATA forecast is that by 2036 this would almost double to 7.8 bn. Aviation is about connectivity at national, regional and global levels. Today, almost all inhabited points in the world are accessible within 24h. We need to protect, cherish and support connectivity. This means that we should be open to new business models and actions that are there to enhance connectivity. But this equally means big challenges and the need to address them. Fast growth will stretch to the limits the ability to provide robust safety oversight, implement the highest security standards and deliver punctuality. All this boils down to the capacity challenge that I will be addressing in a moment. A couple of weeks ago, EUROCONTROL published the "Challenges of Growth" 2018 edition, which reinforces the same point that I have been making over the last years namely that capacity on the ground as well as in the air is the most important medium and long term challenge aviation is facing. This challenge concerns all of us the States, the industry and, of course, it affects our travelling public. If we do not increase capacity, it is estimated that by 2040 there will be 1.5m flights in demand more than can be accommodated, which would mean that 160m passengers would be unable to fly. We already experience this through the unprecedented delays during the first six months of Only in May and June the consolidated delay equalled the delay of 6 months in 2017 and the consolidated delay of the first six months of 2018 (8.9 mio delay minutes) almost equal the delay for the whole 2017 (9,3 mio delay minutes). The average en-route delay per flight was up 133% compared to the same period last year. Furthermore, the average delay per delayed flight stood at 2

3 20.6 minutes, with the longest regulated delay reaching 337 minutes. And all of this while traffic is constantly continuing to grow. To date, 45% of all en-route delays in 2018 have been caused by capacity/staffing shortages, with strikes/disruption accounting for 27%; a combined impact of 72%. Weather accounts for 28% of delays. The main reason for delays has been Aerodrome and ATM capacity shortages This is very serious as things are not getting better, they are getting worse. And these delays are simply unacceptable. Furthermore, studies have highlighted that by 2035, capacity constraints could lead to a decrease of around 800,000 jobs and an annual loss in GDP of up to around 50bn at EU level. Clearly, the lack of capacity imposes costs on the broader European economy. If nothing is done, we could deprive ourselves of growth, opportunities and improved connectivity. Complacency cannot be an option! You as DGCAs, must work closely together to ensure that ANSPs (of which most of you are their largest shareholder) understand that they must contribute to the overall European network by providing sufficient capacity and operating in a network focused manner. We need to start delivering. In order to tackle this challenge we have identified at the EU level potential solutions through our Aviation Strategy for Europe. In the ATM area, we are pushing to build a genuine Single European Sky to stop the fragmentation of our airspace. At the same time, we also need to modernise our ATM. Europe is still a global leader on ATM modernisation. But that's not enough. Deployment must be speeded up and more efficient solutions should help to increase the efficiencies of our skies. And we should ensure that we have a global interoperability of the systems, notably between SESAR and NextGen. We should also be serious about creating the European Flight Information Region and make sure that disruptions to overflights are minimised. We owe it to the airspace users and the European travelling public. That is what they expect from us and this is what we need to deliver. This would be a major challenge to achieve but if we do not attempt to change the status quo we would not be serving the interests of the European aviation. Over the last years, we have progressed on many fronts in the implementation of our Aviation Strategy for Europe. Our objective with this 3

4 Strategy was to equip Europe with rules that are adapted to the aviation of today and could serve the aviation of tomorrow. This has led us to assess to what extent our aviation legal framework should be updated. We need to put the real challenges like capacity in the centre of our work and we need to get maximum efficiencies out of our system. Having this in mind we continue to work on multiple files in order to modernise our rules and let me just mention a few of them : o Slot regulation - but unfortunately the file remains blocked for the time being; o Airport charges - very sensitive file with very polarised views from airports and airlines; o Air services regulation - which will notably give us the possibility to revisit our rules on important aspects such as O&C, leasing, traffic distribution, PSOs, etc; o Connectivity and competition - good progress has been made on this file and we expect an agreement between European co-legislators by the end of the year; o Computer Reservation Systems and ground handling where we are launching the evaluation process; o Social aspects of aviation where we have launched a fact-finding study and will assess where changes to our rules might be needed notably to adapt them to new forms of employment. One very important result already achieved is the revision of our safety rules, EASA Basic Regulation, which was formally adopted last month. As you well know, safety is and will always remain our number one priority. With the new rules, the European States are now equipped with a modern legal framework which will support the development of new technologies, such as drones, while ensuring the highest level of safety. I am also very proud that EASA and the European safety framework have received an excellent score by a recent ICAO audit - with over 97% of effective implementation of ICAO SARPs. Equally, I am looking forward to participating in the ICAO 13 th Air Navigation Conference next October, which will be a key milestone towards the next ICAO Assembly. This event will give us the opportunity to focus on the global implementation of safety and air navigation standards and to discuss emerging issues. 4

5 When speaking about safety, I always point out that security is as important as they are the two sides of the same coin. While we remain concerned by and alert to the traditional threats such as improvised explosive devices, we have to demonstrate our capability to anticipate new threats and cannot ignore that terrorists are constantly exploring ways to defeat the sophisticated and high-performant technology we have at our screening point. Today, we have new concerns represented by chemical threats from powderlike substances. Vigilance and proactivity are needed to enhance performance and detection of our technology, but also improving operations at airports is already a reasonable additional layer of security. But it s not enough, and we know that, for instance, educated and informed passengers may significantly contribute to deliver a higher level of security. We must also make sure that we do not react disproportionally and that the highest level of security is maintained but not at the expense of operational integrity. In November, we will have an important opportunity to address the global challenges at the ICAO 2 nd High Level Conference on Aviation Security. We should reaffirm there the priority attached to GASeP and setting up regional targets and monitoring schemes. In particular, we should highlight how the ICAO EUR-NAT Region's "diversity" is an asset (not a "problem"), and the benefits of harnessing the proven positive contributions of ECAC and the EU to ICAO (already existing co-operation) and avoiding the duplication of tasks. All of us must be held accountable for GASeP implementation if it is to be a success. This would be an important step in raising the global bar and constitute an important political response to the considerations expressed in the UN Security Council Resolution To address the ever-evolving security challenges, ICAO needs to become a stronger AVSEC global regulator. In my view, security needs to be recognised as one of the main global drivers in aviation, and be better recognised within ICAO s structure. The GASeP is the right policy tool for this, but the strengthening should also include changes at the ICAO Secretariat level. We also believe that the importance of the security culture and the need to address "insider threat" should be recognised at a global level. We believe in 5

6 pursuing a global policy on insider threat and we attach utmost importance to the development of cyber security policies. Issues related to the environment have kept us very busy in ICAO over the past years. I recall all the efforts made in Europe before the last ICAO Assembly, and the Bratislava Declaration, signed by all ECAC States, where we all committed to implement from its start what would become the CORSIA. I also recall with a lot of emotion the last Assembly and the agreement reached there. Less than two years after this historic agreement, our technical experts have designed a completely new Standard to implement such a scheme. European experts have played a decisive role in such design. The new CORSIA Standard has just been adopted by the ICAO Council. Congratulations to all for this remarkable work. Europe fought hard to maintain CORSIA environmental integrity and can be proud of the result. This is a major achievement. CORSIA is the first ever Global Market based mechanism applicable to a whole industry sector and a resolute step from the international community in its efforts to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions by taking sector-wide action at a global level. I take this opportunity to praise President Aliu for his leadership here as well as the exemplary cooperation between all EU and ECAC States to achieve this result and to thank you all for your strong commitment. But we are not yet there as in November, the ICAO Council will review CORSIA implementation elements and we must keep our high level of ambition. Next year s ICAO Assembly will provide Europe with an important opportunity to set the right environmental priorities in ICAO and influence the development of future standards. Europe should have its voice heard on the development of standards for supersonics; innovation cannot be detrimental to public acceptability. I understand that environmental aspects of aviation will be discussed at length this afternoon. More generally, we fully support the objectives of the ICAO No Country Left Behind initiative. And, we are committed to support a better implementation of SARPs at the global level and ensure a safe, secure, efficient, economically viable and environmentally sound air transport system in all ICAO Contracting States. 6

7 To achieve this objective, Europe, in addition to the many activities undertaken by its individual States, carries out many capacity building and technical assistance activities to support States inside and outside Europe. This is notably illustrated with the several capacity building projects on CORSIA in Africa and the CORSIA technical assistance towards ASEAN countries that we will start soon. Let me now come to the EU external aviation policy. I do believe that Comprehensive Air Transport Agreements with reciprocity and functioning dispute settling mechanisms are the best guarantees for close aviation partnerships between EU and partners around the globe. Over the last years, we have made good progress in negotiations with important partners, notably with ASEAN, Qatar, Turkey and others. We are expanding the European aviation space and deepening cooperation in multiple areas like safety, security, ATM modernisation, Flow Management widening around the globe. I am very pleased and proud about that. Dear colleagues, looking at recent years, we can see that nationalism, populism with the re-emergence of protectionism in global politics which are bad for our societies and even more so for the prospects of aviation. I am convinced, today more than ever, that openness and multilateralism are the solution. Europe and aviation are two excellent illustrations of what we can achieve if we work together towards the achievement of common goals. Openness and globalisation have helped to tear down borders, to open up the world and create a lot of business opportunities. It made the world a better place and has offered people freedom to travel but also the freedom to provide services and do business. Multilateralism has been the basis of the functioning of global institutions. In this context, I wish to reaffirm our strong commitment towards ICAO. Let me praise here the excellent cooperation we have with ICAO and the excellent work done by my friends President Aliu and Secretary General Fang Liu. Our cooperation with all of you here through ECAC framework fully endorses multilateralism and ICAO as the best place to settle global aviation issues. I am also very pleased to see the progress in raising the bar globally for aviation safety and security. You have all contributed to that and we continue to do so also through supporting capacity building around the globe. 7

8 It is also essential to defend the integrity and the spirit of the Chicago Convention and make sure that the international framework for civil aviation is respected and the highest level of safety is never put into question. Next year we will have the 40 th ICAO Assembly. Defining European ambitions for the next Assembly will keep our agenda busy today. I have already mentioned a few issues that Europe could push forward like security, environment, capacity challenges and ATM modernisation & digitalisation. In addition to that, we also want the ICAO to continue its important work on market-related issues and show stronger leadership in taking forward the global economic development of air transport. The ATRP has been working hard on a new multilateral framework for air services. We all well know that these are not easy issues but we should not be discouraged by that and continue to push forward on those areas where we can find common ground and where a tangible contribution can be made in order to liberalise global air transport. I would like to put particular emphasis on the issues of Ownership & Control that are historic remnants of this global, competitive and vibrant sector. We should have the courage to change and normalise the air transport industry in this particular domain. This is essential to facilitate airlines access to investments. The Assembly next year would be the obvious platform to express strong political support to the Convention that is currently being developed by the ATRP on the topic. I also believe that we should push for a strengthening of ICAO oversight and audits, and an increased transparency of their outcomes, while removing duplication where they exist with our European system. Equally, I think that we should be bold and invite ICAO to look at areas which are important for us and where we have developed strong standards in Europe. There are domains which until now have not been part of ICAO core business but in which ICAO could play a role as a facilitator and pursue raising the bar globally. In this context let me mention PNR data, where ICAO could facilitate the exchange of data between States while ensuring the adherence to the strong data protection rules. We could also ask ICAO to embed some of the 'Core Principles on Consumer Protection' adopted in 2015 into the SARPs. 8

9 Ladies and Gentlemen, I will stop here as time is limited, and we need to save some talking for the panel discussions and I also don t want to pre-empt too much on the discussions we will have today. As a very last remark, I would like to say that I have now been involved in the transport/aviation sector for most of last 8 years and I feel immensely blessed and privileged to have been given the opportunity to interact with all of you. You are great people, doing exceptional things with such a passion that is rarely present in many others sectors of the economy. Aviation is contagious and once you get hooked it is difficult to leave. Part of that is the fascination of the business but it is also the people, all of you, who make this sector unique and special. And, finally, let me conclude by thanking once again Ingrid and Salvatore for the honour to address you today. I am convinced we will have an interesting and fascinating day to come. Thank you very much for your kind attention!