HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"L 16/2
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
19.1.2013
AGREEMENT
between the European Union and the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation
providing a general framework for enhanced cooperation
THE EUROPEAN UNION (EU)
and
THE EUROPEAN ORGANISATION FOR THE SAFETY OF AIR NAVIGATION (EUROCONTROL)
Hereinafter referred to as “the Parties”
HAVING REGARD to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (hereinafter “TFEU”), and in particular
Articles 218 and 220 thereof;
HAVING REGARD to the EUROCONTROL International Convention relating to Cooperation for the Safety of Air
Navigation of 13 December 1960 as amended by the Protocol signed at Brussels on 12 February 1981 (hereinafter
“EUROCONTROL Convention”), and in particular Articles 7.2 and 11.3 thereof;
HAVING REGARD to Measure No 11/174 of 12 May 2011 taken by the Permanent Commission of EUROCONTROL
delegating authority to the Agency to open negotiations for the conclusion of a High Level Agreement with the EU and
Measure No 12/181 of 10 May 2012 taken by the Permanent Commission of EUROCONTROL approving the negotiated
Agreement;
HAVING REGARD to the respective present legal and institutional contexts of the Parties and their contributions to the
implementation of the Single European Sky (SES) within and beyond the EU;
HAVING REGARD to the competence conferred upon the EU in matters related to the SES;
HAVING REGARD to the role of EUROCONTROL as the intergovernmental pan-European civil-military organisation
specialised in the field of air traffic management (ATM);
WHEREAS the Parties share the vision of achieving an optimal and integrated European ATM network, offering, through
all phases of air transport, and in conjunction with other means of transport, a high degree of safety, cost-efficiency,
capacity and environmental protection, for the benefit of passengers and citizens;
WHEREAS EU legislation entrusts the European Commission with a number of tasks related to the implementation of the
SES, for which expert support is needed;
WHEREAS EUROCONTROL has evolved, since 1960, into a unique centre of expertise in the domain of ATM, bringing
as added value pan-European and military dimensions and assistance to States in the performance of public domain
services and functions, and should continue to assist its Member States, including in the implementation of SES and other
related EU policies, and to provide a pan-European platform to facilitate the enhancement of military cooperation on
ATM;
WHEREAS EU legislation establishes that the European Commission may issue mandates to EUROCONTROL in order to
develop implementing rules related to the establishment of the SES;
WHEREAS the EU recognises the essential contribution of EUROCONTROL to support the EU in its role as regulator in
order to implement the SES and other related EU policies;
WHEREAS the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and EUROCONTROL concluded, on 8 May 2003, a
Memorandum of Cooperation;
WHEREAS the European Commission and EUROCONTROL concluded, on 22 December 2003, a Memorandum
concerning a framework for cooperation;

---

EN
19.1.2013 Official
Journal
of
the
European
Union
L
16/3
WHEREAS EUROCONTROL was designated by a decision of the European Commission of 29 July 2010 as the
Performance Review Body of the SES, in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 691/2010, and EUROCONTROL
accepted this designation by Directive No 10/74 of the Permanent Commission of 15 September 2010;
WHEREAS EUROCONTROL was nominated by a decision of the European Commission of 7 July 2011 as the Network
Manager for the ATM Network Functions, in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 677/2011, and EUROCONTROL
accepted this nomination by Directive No 11/77 of the Permanent Commission of 1 September 2011;
WHEREAS the Parties have a long-standing relationship and history of cooperation in ATM and in the implementation of
SES and other related policies, and wish to consolidate this relationship and fully coordinate further actions;
WHEREAS the Parties should ensure synergies and avoid duplication in safety-related ATM matters and environmental
issues;
WHEREAS the long-term application of existing arrangements between the European Commission and EUROCONTROL
should be assessed in the light of this Agreement and, where appropriate, confirmed and strengthened through this
Agreement;
WHEREAS the implementation of this Agreement should not lead to a duplication of funding of the cooperative activities
referred to in this Agreement and therefore should not result in a nominal contribution of the EU to the budget of
EUROCONTROL;
CONSIDERING that the EU objective is to extend the geographical coverage of the SES beyond the EU;
CONSIDERING that, without prejudice to the relationships between the Parties and their respective membership and to
the rights and obligations of the Member States under the EUROCONTROL Convention and the TFEU respectively, it is
desirable to establish complementary mutually reinforcing cooperation and coordination mechanisms between the EU and
EUROCONTROL in the implementation of SES and other related policies, in particular in the fields of environment,
including climate change, and research and development with a view to making better use of the expertise and support of
EUROCONTROL;
CONSIDERING that the support provided by EUROCONTROL to the EU should comply with the principles of trans
parency, impartiality and independence;
CONSIDERING that the evolution of the EUROCONTROL organisation whereby, in particular, it progressively aligns itself
to support the EU in the implementation of the SES with a view to improving the overall performance of the European
ATM network should be facilitated;
AGREE ON THE FOLLOWING:
1. GENERAL
SCOPE
— to establish the main elements for enhanced cooperation
between the Parties in order to contribute to timely and
1.1 The Parties agree to strengthen and consolidate
consistent implementation of the SES within the EU, and
cooperation between the EU and EUROCONTROL in
beyond the EU in those States that agree to be bound by the
order to enable EUROCONTROL to support the EU in
SES, and the establishment of an efficient air transport
the implementation of SES and related EU policies
system through activities reflecting the respective tasks and
within the EU, and beyond the EU in those States that
responsibilities of the Parties;
agree to be bound thereby.
— to facilitate the necessary civil-military cooperation on ATM
1.2 The Agreement shall be without prejudice to the rights
in the SES;
and obligations of Member States as members of EURO
CONTROL or of the EU.
— the recognition and utilisation of EUROCONTROL expertise
including civil-military cooperation to support the EU in the
implementation of SES and other related policies in
2. OBJECTIVES
particular in the fields of environment, including climate
change, and research and development, in order to
The objectives of this Agreement are:
improve the performance of the European ATM network;

---

L 16/4
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
19.1.2013
— to acknowledge the value of EUROCONTROL continuing to
c) Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS).
perform, as appropriate, support activities and functions for
the implementation of the SES;
3.4 The subjects and modalities of cooperation shall be
defined further in separate Annexes to this Agreement.
— to establish the necessary cooperation to support and
facilitate the involvement of non-EU Member States in the
SES, with a view to extending the implementation of the
4. FORMS
OF
COOPERATION
SES beyond the EU and to progressively achieving the appli
cation of the SES legislative framework by EUROCON
4.1 The Agreement shall be executed through the following
TROL’s entire membership;
forms of cooperation:
— to ensure synergies and avoid duplication of EASA’s work in
a) provision of mutual support;
safety-related ATM matters and environmental issues,
including, where appropriate, through the development of
robust cooperation mechanisms between EASA and EURO
b) mechanisms for enhanced cooperation, liaison mech
CONTROL, taking into account EUROCONTROL’s pan-
anisms and offices, and the coordination of studies and
European responsibilities.
programmes and joint activities;
3. AREAS
OF
COOPERATION
c) mechanisms for the collection and mutual exchange of
3.1 The
areas
of
cooperation
under
this
Agreement
are
those
information, data, and statistics, as appropriate;
necessary for the implementation of the SES, including
SESAR, and other related EU policies, in particular
d) coordination of cooperation on technical matters at
environment, including climate change, and ATM
working level in the context of ICAO.
research and development policies.
3.2 The
cooperation
shall
address
the
following
subjects:
4.2 With regard to military aspects of the SES, the Parties
shall ensure the best use of the relevant stakeholder
consultation processes.
a) Functional Airspace Blocks;
4.3 The
coordination
and
facilitation
of
cooperative
activities
b) National Supervisory Authorities;
under this Agreement shall be accomplished on behalf of
EUROCONTROL by its Agency and on behalf of the EU
c) Support in the field of Air Traffic Management and Air
by the European Commission. EUROCONTROL may also
Navigation Services (ATM/ANS) safety, including to
support other EU bodies, as appropriate, through specific
EASA, as set out in Article 2;
instruments, with a view to optimising and integrating
existing expertise and resources.
d) Civil-military cooperation and coordination;
5. CONSULTATION
AND
INFORMATION
e) International coordination, in particular towards ICAO
5.1 The
Parties
shall
consult
each
other
regularly
in
order
to
and States other than Member States of the Parties;
coordinate to the fullest extent their activities related to
this Agreement. Each Party shall inform the other of any
initiative pertinent to this Agreement without prejudice to
f) Air Traffic Management and Communication/Navi
their respective decision-making processes, in the areas of
gation/Surveillance Services (ATM/CNS), including
cooperation under Article 3, which may be of interest to
space;
the other Party.
g) Air transport-related data and statistics;
5.2 The Parties shall exchange information that may be
required for the implementation of this Agreement,
h) Aviation environmental issues;
subject to their respective rules. Except when otherwise
provided, the Parties shall not disclose any information
exchanged in connection with this Agreement to any
i) Airport policy.
persons other than those employed by them or officially
entitled to handle such information nor shall they use it
for commercial purposes. Such disclosure shall extend
3.3 Further
subjects
of
cooperation
may
address
in
particular:
only so far as may be necessary for the purpose of this
Agreement and shall be in strict confidence.
a) ATM security;
5.3 The relevant bodies of the Parties shall convene if
b) Spectrum policy;
necessary to exchange views.

---

EN
19.1.2013 Official
Journal
of
the
European
Union
L
16/5
6. CONFIDENTIALITY
7.4 The Joint Committee shall operate on the basis of
agreement between the representatives of the Parties.
6.1 Each
Party
shall
take
all
reasonable
precautions
necessary
to protect information received under this Agreement and
its Annexes from unauthorised disclosure. A Party may,
7.5 The Joint Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.
upon providing information to the other Party, designate
the portions of the information that it considers to be
exempt from disclosure.
8. FINANCING
8.1 A Party requesting support activities to be performed
6.2 The Parties agree to safeguard, to the extent required
under this Agreement by the other Party shall ensure
under their respective rules, the protection of classified
the funding of such activities.
information, if any, received from the other Party in appli
cation of this Agreement.
8.2 Financial aspects related to the cooperation under this
Agreement shall be defined in accordance with the rules
6.3 In particular, subject to their respective rules the Parties
applicable to the Parties’ respective budgets. The Parties
shall not disclose information received from each other
shall conclude separate arrangements, where appropriate.
under this Agreement that is considered proprietary. Such
information shall be appropriately marked as such in
9. EXTERNAL
RELATIONS
AND
COOPERATION
accordance with their respective rules.
9.1 Each Party shall inform the other of its activities of an
international dimension pertinent to this Agreement
6.4 The Parties shall agree on working arrangements on
which may be of interest to the other Party.
further procedures for the protection of classified
information provided pursuant to this Agreement as
required. Such procedures shall include the possibility
9.2 Whenever appropriate a Party may, in relation to any
for each Party to verify which protection measures have
matters relevant to its international activities, consult the
been put in place by the other Party.
other Party.
7. MANAGEMENT
OF
THE
AGREEMENT
10. DISPUTE
RESOLUTION
7.1 A
Joint
Committee
is
established,
composed
of
one
repre
10.1 The Parties shall make every effort to resolve any
sentative of each Party, who may be accompanied by
differences between them arising from their cooperation
observers from Member States of the Parties and
under this Agreement.
experts. The Joint Committee shall be responsible for
the effective functioning of this Agreement.
10.2 In the event that any difference is not resolved, either
Party may refer the dispute to the Joint Committee,
7.2 A meeting of the Joint Committee shall be convened at
which shall consult on the matter with a view to
least once a year to evaluate and review the implemen
resolving it by negotiation.
tation of this Agreement and shall be organised cost-effec
tively. Either Party may request a meeting of the Joint
Committee at any time.
11. EXCHANGE
OF
PERSONNEL
Subject to their respective rules and procedures, the Parties may
7.3 The
Joint
Committee
may
consider
any
matter
related
to
exchange and second personnel as required to pursue the
the functioning and implementation of this Agreement. In
activities described in this Agreement or in Annexes thereto.
particular, it shall be responsible for:
All such exchanges shall be in accordance with the terms and
conditions as agreed between the Parties.
a) resolving any question relating to the application and
implementation of this Agreement;
12. ANNEXES
The Annexes to this Agreement shall form an integral part of
b) considering ways to enhance the implementation of
this Agreement.
this Agreement and make, as appropriate, recommen
dations to the Parties for its amendment;
13. ENTRY
INTO
FORCE
AND
TERMINATION
c) identifying new subjects for cooperation;
13.1 Pending its entry into force, this Agreement shall be
applied provisionally from the date of signature.
d) adopting and amending Annexes and working
arrangements within the scope of this Agreement;
13.2 This Agreement shall enter into force when the Parties
have notified each other in writing that their respective
internal procedures necessary for its entry into force have
e) resolving any difference or dispute concerning the
been completed and shall remain in force until
interpretation or application of this Agreement.
terminated.

---

L 16/6
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
19.1.2013
13.3 This Agreement may be terminated at any time by either Party. Such termination shall be effected by
six months’ written notification from one Party to the other Party unless the said notice of termination
has been withdrawn by mutual consent of the Parties before the expiry of this period.
Done at Brussels on the twentieth day of December in the year two thousand and twelve.
Fait à Bruxelles, le vingt décembre deux mille douze.
For the European Union
Pour l'Union européenne
For the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation
Pour l'Organisation européenne pour la sécurité de la navigation aérienne

---