Commission and stakeholders discuss the recovery of European aviation

5 May 2021: The European Commission and aviation industry reconvened six months after the publication of the Aviation Round Table report on the recovery of European aviation and exchanged on the policy priorities for the next 12 months. ERA Director General Montserrat Barriga presented on behalf of the aviation industry associations.

The directorates for transport (DG MOVE) and Competition (DG COMP) organised this plenary meeting with the signatories of the Aviation Round Table (ART) Report on the recovery of European aviation that was published in November 2020. The aim of the meeting was to take stock on what had been achieved so far, and what were the priorities for the coming 12 months.

The Commission stemmed from the 86 actions foreseen in the Sustainable and Smart Mobility strategy it adopted in December 2020, to assess how it took on board some of the nearly 100 actions foreseen in the stakeholders' ART report.

On the chapter of restoring public confidence to air travel, the EC emphasised the COM proposal on the Digital Green Certificate, the Council recommendations on reopening travel and the EASA/ECDC guidance.

Representatives from the Commission and the civil society agreed on pushing forward the sustainability pillar of the report. The Commission is ready to support the Pact if stakeholders take initiative. On the environmental dimension, the Commission underlined the launch of RefuelEU Aviation and will explore the benefits of renewal schemes.

EU aviation called for policy support for taking the lead in sustainability (Destination 2050) and:

• A consistent and stable regulatory framework supporting the development and deployment new technologies and SAFs.
• European sustainable finance guidelines for the transition across the aviation ecosystem (EIB lending policies, EU taxonomy, EU and national programmes)
• Wider access to EU and public financing (RRF, state aid and other).
• Increased public co-funding rates for civil aviation research and innovation (Clean Aviation and SESAR).
• 100 per cent public financing of SESAR.

On the way forward to improve the internal market for aviation and European aviation international competitiveness, the Commission is assessing the following dossiers:

• Revise the passengers rights regulatory framework (including resilience, multimodal tickets), and assess the financial protection scheme to protect passengers against a liquidity crisis or insolvency.
• Review of Air services regulation, code of conduct for computerised reservation systems, airport slots and airport charges directives.
• Review transport relevant state aid rules.

There was broad consensus amongst all stakeholders that the aviation sector is one of the economic sectors the most impacted by the pandemic and would therefore necessitate dedicated tools to increase its resilience against potential new shocks. In addition to the regulation 2020/696 in response to COVID-19 and EU/MS funding, the EC is launching a COVID-19 impact study and has started reflections toward resilient EU regulatory framework which may include aviation.

ERA together with five other associations emphasised the staggering discrepancy of approach between the EU and the US, where US airlines and airports are less impacted, but received double the financial support and the Biden Administration announced $25 billion airport investments to “position the United States as a global leader in clean aviation”, that might in turn will reverse the market and competitive position of European aviation.

In this context, we call for the Commission and Member States to address the competitiveness issue and look urgently at:

• A state aid framework for aviation during recovery (until 2024/25).
• A swift uptake of the DGC process to save the touristic summer season.
• PSO framework.
• EU261 review.

ERA will follow up with the Commission services on each one of these files, instrumental for regional aviation.

These plenary meetings shall reconvene twice a year.