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| Formation | 1963[1] |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Brussels,Belgium |
| Membership | 42 member states |
| Budget | €505.8 million(as of 2014)[2] |
| Employees | 1,945(as of 2014)[2] |
| Website | eurocontrol.int |
TheEuropean Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, commonly known asEurocontrol (stylisedEUROCONTROL), is aninternational organisation working to achieve safe and seamlessair traffic management acrossEurope. Founded in 1963, Eurocontrol currently has 42 member states with headquarters inBrussels,Belgium. It has several local sites as well, including an Innovation Hub inBrétigny-sur-Orge,France, the Aviation Learning Centre (ALC) inLuxembourg, and the Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre (MUAC) inMaastricht,the Netherlands. The organisation employs approximately two thousand people, and operates with an annual budget in excess of half a billioneuros.[2]
Although Eurocontrol is not anagency of the European Union, the EU has delegated parts of itsSingle European Sky regulations to Eurocontrol, making it the central organisation for coordination and planning of air traffic control for all of Europe.[3] The EU itself is a signatory of Eurocontrol and all EU member states are presently also members of Eurocontrol.[4] The organisation works with national authorities,air navigation service providers, civil andmilitary airspace users,airports, and other organisations. Its activities involve all gate-to-gate air navigation service operations: strategic and tactical flow management, controller training, regional control of airspace, safety-proofed technologies and procedures, and collection of air navigation charges.
Eurocontrol takes center stage in managing air traffic disruptions within Europe to guarantee the continuity of safe and efficient air operations during crises. For instance, the2010 Icelandic Volcanic Ash Crisis saw the involvement of Eurocontrol in providing relevant data to the national authorities and air traffic control agencies to reduce airspace closure to a minimum. Moreover, during theCOVID-19 pandemic, Eurocontrol supported the monitoring of the steep decline in air traffic through strategic responses toward the adjustment of flight plans and, therefore, mitigating operational challenges. Much of these efforts are managed through theNetwork Manager function of Eurocontrol, which enables the real-time monitoring of air traffic and oversees the implementation of contingency plans during emergencies such as natural calamities, industrial strikes, and adverse weather. This would be the necessary central coordination that sustains the resilience of Europe's air traffic network during crises.
The Eurocontrol Convention was signed in 1960 and ratified in 1963. Before the convention entered into force in 1963, there were already indications that the matter of national sovereignty would complicate the full implementation of the organisation's founding mission. The first European plan for a harmonisedair traffic control (ATC) system, proposed in 1962, was beset by the refusal of bothFrance andBritain to comply, largely due to reasons closely linked with their national military airspace control. The other four original members (theFederal Republic of Germany,Belgium, theNetherlands andLuxembourg) agreed in 1964 to set up a single international air traffic control centre to manage their upper airspace, settling in the Dutch city ofMaastricht.[5]
TheEuropean Parliament at the time expressed concern about the lack of clear intergovernmental agreements to ensure common air traffic control services across the continent. In 1979, Eurocontrol signed a working cooperation agreement with theEuropean Commission, attempting to create a synergy of Eurocontrol's technical expertise and EU's regulatory authorities. Several initiatives originating in this period become a lasting element of the organisation, such as the Eurocontrol forecasting service, which became STATFOR, as well as the Aeronautical Information Service. By 1986, the pressure on the European ATC network was so big that a new, wider mandate was already being considered for Eurocontrol, with much of the initiative coming fromECAC’s Ministers of Transport. Subsequently, ECAC urged all of its member states to join Eurocontrol.[5]
A revised Eurocontrol Convention was signed in 1997, renewing the organisation's optimism for greater political support, surpassing the original vision of the 1960 Convention. In June 1998, Eurocontrol, theEuropean Space Agency (ESA) and the European Commission (EC) also signed an agreement formalising cooperation in the realm of satellite navigation systems and services. In 1999 the European Commission presented its plan for aSingle European Sky (SES) to the European Parliament, followed by two high-Level groups (HLG). The HLG reports on SES led to the establishment of theEuropean Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and reinforced the European Commission's role as the sole European aviation safety regulator, while acknowledging Eurocontrol's technical expertise in the implementation of said regulations.[5]
The early 2000s were marred by several fatal accidents in Europe, such as the2001 Linate Airport runway collision and the 2002Überlingen mid-air collision, both of which were related to air traffic navigation shortcomings. The pressure was further compounded by theSeptember 11 attacks, increasing the need for a rapid Europe-wide regulatory and coordinating body. By May 2003, Eurocontrol andNATO had signed a memorandum of cooperation, followed by a similar memorandum with the European Commission in December 2003. In February 2004, Eurocontrol started work on first mandates from the European Commission and in April 2004, it adopted the Single European Sky Regulations (Package 1). In March 2006, the European Commission's Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) Program was launched by the Stakeholder Consultation Group (SCG) under Eurocontrol's aegis.[5]
Eurocontrol provides a set of different services:
Eurocontrol's Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre (MUAC), ICAO designator EDYY,[6] located atMaastricht Aachen Airport, providesair traffic control for traffic above 24,500 ft overBelgium,Luxembourg, theNetherlands, and north-westGermany. In 2017 it became the first multinational, cross-border, civil-military, air navigation service provider since it integrated the military air traffic control of the German and Dutch upper airspace.
It is the third busiest upper areaarea control centre (ACC) inEurope after theLondon Area Control Centre and Karlsruhe ACC in terms of traffic numbers, but the first in terms of flight hours and distance.
MUAC has put in operation innovative technology and productivity enhancements: a new generation Flight Data Processing System,[7] Integrated Flow Management Position,[8] theShort Term Conflict Alert (STCA),Controller Pilot Data Link Communications (CPDLC) and stripless controller working positions.
Typically, air traffic control sectors at MUAC can handle 55 or more flights per hour. The average flight duration is approximately 21 minutes and typically 80% of the traffic is climbing from or descending to the major European airports ofLondon,Brussels,Paris,Frankfurt,Amsterdam andBerlin.Maastricht UAC has undoubtedly one of the most complex airspace structures in the world and the traffic flow (up to 5,670 aircraft a day) can be disrupted by the many surrounding military airspaces.
To be considered for membership of Eurocontrol, a country must meetall of the following criteria:[9]
| Member | Since | Relationship with the EU |
|---|---|---|
 Belgium | 1963 | EU Member |
 France | 1963 | EU Member |
 Germany | 1963 | EU Member |
 Luxembourg | 1963 | EU Member |
 Netherlands | 1963 | EU Member |
 United Kingdom | 1963 | Former EU Member |
 Ireland | 1965 | EU Member |
 Portugal | 1986 | EU Member |
 Greece | 1988 | EU Member |
 Malta | 1989 | EU Member |
 Turkey | 1989 | EU Candidate |
 Cyprus | 1991 | EU Member |
 Hungary | 1992 | EU Member |
 Switzerland | 1992 | Has bilateral treaties with EU, including Schengen and enforcement of EU passenger rights. |
 Austria | 1993 | EU Member |
 Denmark | 1994 | EU Member |
 Norway | 1994 | EEA Member |
 Slovenia | 1995 | EU Member |
 Sweden | 1995 | EU Member |
 Czech Republic | 1996 | EU Member |
 Romania | 1996 | EU Member |
 Italy | 1996 | EU Member |
 Slovakia | 1997 | EU Member |
 Spain | 1997 | EU Member |
 Monaco | 1997 | |
 Bulgaria | 1997 | EU Member |
 Croatia | 1997 | EU Member |
 North Macedonia | 1998 | EU Candidate |
 Moldova | 2000 | EU Candidate |
 Finland | 2001 | EU Member |
 European Union | 2002 | In parallel with member states |
 Albania | 2002 | EU Candidate |
 Ukraine | 2004 | EU Candidate |
 Poland | 2004 | EU Member |
 Bosnia and Herzegovina | 2004 | EU Candidate |
 Serbia | 2005 | EU Candidate |
 Lithuania | 2006 | EU Member |
 Armenia | 2006 | |
 Montenegro | 2007 | EU Candidate |
 Latvia | 2011 | EU Member |
 Georgia[10] | 2012 | EU Candidate |
 Estonia[11] | 2015 | EU Member |
 Iceland[12] | 2025 | EEA Member |
In addition to membership, EUROCONTROL also concludes the so-called Comprehensive Agreements, which enhances the organisation's cooperation with non-European countries that are closely tied to the continent's aviation network.[13]
| Member | Since | Notes |
|---|---|---|
 Morocco | April 29, 2016 | |
 Israel | June 2, 2016 |
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