Regulation 2004/551 - Organisation and use of the airspace in the single European sky (the airspace Regulation) - Commission statement - Main contents

official title

 

Legal instrument	Regulation
Number legal act	Regulation 2004/551
Original proposal	COM(2001)564
CELEX number i	32004R0551

Avis juridique important

|

Regulation (EC) No 551/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 March 2004 on the organisation and use of the airspace in the single European sky (the airspace Regulation) (Text with EEA relevance) - Commission statement

Official Journal L 096 , 31/03/2004 P. 0020 - 0025

Regulation (EC) No 551/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council

of 10 March 2004

on the organisation and use of the airspace in the single European sky

(the airspace Regulation)

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 80(2) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission(1),

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee(2),

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions(3),

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty(4), in the light of the joint text approved by the Conciliation Committee on 11 December 2003,

Whereas:

• (1) 

  The creation of the single European sky requires a harmonised approach for regulation of the organisation and the use of airspace.

• (2) 

  In the report of the High Level Group on the single European sky in November 2000 it is considered that airspace should be designed, regulated and strategically managed on a European basis.

• (3) 

  The Communication of the Commission on the creation of the single European sky of 30 November 2001 calls for structural reform to permit the creation of the single European sky by way of a progressively more integrated management of airspace and the development of new concepts and procedures of air traffic management.

• (4) 

  Regulation (EC) No 549/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 March 2004 (the framework Regulation)(5) lays down the framework for the creation of the single European sky.

• (5) 

  In Article 1 of the 1944 Chicago Convention on Civil Aviation, the Contracting States recognise that "every State has complete and exclusive sovereignty over the airspace above its territory". It is within the framework of such sovereignty that the Member States of the Community, subject to applicable international conventions, exercise the powers of a public authority when controlling air traffic.

• (6) 

  Airspace is a common resource for all categories of users that needs to be used flexibly by all of them, ensuring fairness and transparency whilst taking into account security and defence needs of Member States and their commitments within international organisations.

• (7) 

  Efficient airspace management is fundamental to increasing the capacity of the air traffic services system, to providing the optimum response to various user requirements and to achieving the most flexible use of airspace.

• (8) 

  The activities of Eurocontrol confirm that the route network and airspace structure cannot realistically be developed in isolation, as each individual Member State is an integral element of the European air traffic management network (EATMN), both inside and outside the Community.

• (9) 

  A progressively more integrated operating airspace should be established for en-route general air traffic in the upper airspace; the interface between upper and lower airspace should be identified accordingly.

• (10) 

  A European upper flight information region (EUIR) encompassing the upper airspace under the responsibility of the Member States within the scope of this Regulation should facilitate common planning and aeronautical information publication in order to overcome regional bottlenecks.

• (11) 

  Airspace users face disparate conditions of access to, and freedom of movement within, the Community airspace. This is due to the lack of harmonisation in the...

This text has been adopted from EUR-Lex.

This page is also available in a full version containing the summary of legislation, de geconsolideerde versie, the legal context, de Europese rechtsgrond, other dossiers related to the dossier at hand, the related cases of the European Court of Justice and finally consultations relevant to the dossier at hand.