16 May 2023: ERA attended a stakeholder consultation meeting organised by the Belgian CAA on 12 April to collect the views and feedback of European stakeholders on the revision of the Air Services Regulation and the revision of Slots Regulation. The meeting presentation and summary report of discussions are now available for members.

17 April 2023: Last week, ERA attended a stakeholder consultation meeting organised by the Belgian CAA to collect the views and feedback of European stakeholders on the revision of the Air Services Regulation No. 1008/2008 and the revision of Slot Regulation No. 95/93.

Belgium will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first semester of 2024 and the Belgian CAA has fully started preparing for this Presidency. The European Commission will most likely publish both proposals in the second half of 2023 and the two legislative initiatives will be on the agenda for the Belgian Presidency.

For the Air Services Regulation, stakeholders discussed the following issues:

1. relaxation of ownership and control conditions [art. 4; f];
2. environmental measures, e.g. limitation of air traffic rights [art. 20];
3. fair price, e.g. not less than applicable taxes, fees and charges [art. 22]; and
4. social aspects, e.g. labour law enforcement. 

For the Slot rRegulation, stakeholders discussed the issue of the framework agility in the event of severe crisis, including the historical rights definition or the '80/20' rule.

ERA reiterated its key messages in relation to the revision of the PSO framework to allow more flexibility and decision making at regional level as well as the danger of short-haul flights bans, in particular with regard to the transition to net zero as new aircraft technologies will be tested first on regional routes.

During the exchanges, ERA also stressed the need to ensure fair competition and access of smaller carriers to larger hubs for sake of regional connectivity and to avoid airports discriminating amongst airlines.