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Summaries of EU Legislation

European Common Aviation Area (ECAA)

SUMMARY OF:

Multilateral Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, North Macedonia, Iceland, Montenegro, Norway, Romania, Serbia and the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo on the establishment of a European Common Aviation Area

Decision 2006/682/EC on the signature and provisional application of the Multilateral Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, North Macedonia, Iceland, Montenegro, Norway, Romania, Serbia and the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo on the Establishment of a European Common Aviation Area (ECAA)

Decision (EU) 2018/145 of on the conclusion of the Multilateral Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, North Macedonia, Iceland, Montenegro, Norway, Romania, Serbia and the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo on the establishment of a European Common Aviation Area (ECAA)

WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE AGREEMENT AND DECISIONS?

  • The agreement creates the European Common Aviation Area (ECAA) progressively integrating the EU’s neighbours in south-east Europe in the EU’s internal aviation market, which includes the EU countries, and Norway and Iceland. It aims to deliver economic benefits for air travellers and the aviation industry, ensuring that ECAA airlines have open access to the enlarged European single market in aviation, guaranteeing the same high level of safety and security throughout Europe.
  • The decisions ratify the application of the agreement.

KEY POINTS

Signatory countries must ensure that:

  • aircraft registered in one signatory country conform to international safety standards when landing at airports of another, under the Convention on International Civil Aviation and may be inspected to check the aircraft’s condition and the validity of the aircraft and crew documents;
  • airports apply common basic standards on aviation security listed in Annex I (as updated in 2019) to prevent ‘unlawful interference’;
  • there is cooperation on air traffic management extending the Single European Sky to the ECAA and enhancing safety standards and the efficiency of general air traffic standards in Europe, to optimise capacity and minimise delays;
  • they apply rules on competition and state aid between the parties where these form part of other agreements.

The Joint Committee and new legislation

A joint committee consisting of representatives of the contracting parties is responsible for administering the agreement and ensuring its proper implementation.

Where a country adopts new legislation it must inform the other parties via the joint committee who may consult representatives on its implications. The joint committee will then either revise Annex I to integrate the legislation, determine that the the legislation accords with the agreement, or take any other action to safeguard the agreement's functioning, with priority given to measures that will least disturb it.

Ratification

The ratification Decision (EU) 2018/145 notes that Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia ceased to be associated parties under the 2006 agreement, following their accession to the EU.

DATE OF ENTRY INTO FORCE

The agreement entered into force on .

BACKGROUND

For more information, see:

MAIN DOCUMENTS

Multilateral Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, the Republic of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Bulgaria, the Republic of Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the Republic of Iceland, the Republic of Montenegro, the Kingdom of Norway, Romania, the Republic of Serbia and the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo* on the establishment of a European Common Aviation Area (OJ L 285, , pp. 3-46)

Successive amendments to the agreement have been incorporated into the original text. This consolidated version is of documentary value only.

Decision of the Council 2006/682/EC and of the Representatives of the Member States of the European Union meeting within the Council of on the signature and provisional application of the Multilateral Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, the Republic of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Bulgaria, the Republic of Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the Republic of Iceland, the Republic of Montenegro, the Kingdom of Norway, Romania, the Republic of Serbia and the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo* on the Establishment of a European Common Aviation Area (ECAA) (OJ L 285, , pp. 1-2)

Council Decision (EU) 2018/145 of on the conclusion, on behalf of the Union, of the Multilateral Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, the Republic of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Bulgaria, the Republic of Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the Republic of Iceland, the Republic of Montenegro, the Kingdom of Norway, Romania, the Republic of Serbia and the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo* on the establishment of a European Common Aviation Area (ECAA) (OJ L 26, , pp. 1-3)

last update

*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.

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