19 July 2024: ERA’s Director General, Montserrat Barriga was pleased to participate in the recent European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) 42^nd Plenary (Triennia) Session held in Strasbourg, to exchange directly with Civil Aviation Authorities from states in which ERA’s airline members operate.

Over 150 Member and observer States, along with organisations, came together to celebrate successes in Europe and worldwide and address aviation challenges at the event – on this occasion hosted by the French DGAC – which highlights the crucial importance of global co-operation in the aviation sector.

The session began with addresses from ICAO Council President, Salvatore Sciacchitano and Magda Kopczynska, Director General, DG MOVE at the European Commission. Kopczynska emphasised the special relationship between ECAC and the EC and thanked ECAC for the opportunity to meet and reflect together. She also highlighted how the Commission has supported aviation with a single market and common legal framework. Amongst other priorities, she raised the issues of modernising air navigation, GNSS jamming and cybersecurity and environmental sustainability. She also briefly outlined the political agenda for the next Commission, including decarbonisation and the digital transition and how it plans financing to support the vital transport sector.

The opening speeches were then followed by short presentations by each Focal Point to give an update on their achievements during the present triennium in their respective areas of responsibility. Updates were given on safety, security, facilitation, environment, economic matters, diversity and inclusion and unmanned aircraft systems. 

Two debate sessions then followed, with panels on the attractiveness of aviation as an industry sector and connectivity, liberalisation and fair competition. The chair underlined the overriding message that the aviation sector itself was best placed to recognise the full benefits that the sector offered, and the work that was being done to reduce the negative impacts of air transport (such as moving towards sustainable aviation). He agreed therefore that it was incumbent on those present to communicate this to future workers and external stakeholders.

Finally, several international partners were invited to make statements, amongst which Raúl Medina Caballero, Director General, EUROCONTROL, spoke about the complexity of the global system of aviation and the need for EUROCONTROL to be close to operational partners as well as European institutions such as ECAC. All partners expressed the importance of co-operation between all regions of the world.

A full summary of discussions, including the text of the speech by Magda Kopczynska, is available to download from the top of this page. 

Further presentations and papers can be found on the public area of the ECAC website: https://ecac-ceac.org/events-and-meetings/past-events/ecac-42/ecac42-documents [1]