Standardisation
Harmonising standards for aviation operations and supporting their implementation, regionally and globally.
Supporting standardisation
Single European Sky specifications
Our technical specifications and guidelines provide presumption of conformity with the European Union Interoperability Regulation, where recognised as SES Community Specifications. Our standards also serve as acceptable means of compliance for supporting the implementation of the EU regulatory requirements developed by EASA.
European ATM standards
We closely coordinate and collaborate with EUROCAE in developing aviation standards. A similar coordination and cooperation effort is applied by the broader European standardisation community through the European ATM Standards Coordination Group (EASCG). We contribute our knowledge, experience and harmonisation material to complement their work.
Global standards
Our specifications are used as means of compliance and guidance material by the international community. They are further enhanced by our participation and coordinated efforts with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the RTCA.
Implementation support
Global and European requirements may include regulations, standardisation or other approaches to deploying a regulation, programme, concept or technology. Using our knowledge and experience of the global and regional aviation frameworks and of developing requirements, we create awareness and a deeper understanding of those requirements and their impacts for stakeholders. Where appropriate, we bring them together and capture generic support needs, leading to the development and provision of a variety of deployment tools (standards, manuals, templates, training, etc.).
Development process
The standards development process is mandated by the States and provides a validated outcome on the basis of a defined need.
Using an inclusive, cooperative and transparent process, our standards contribute to improving the safety, interoperability and performance of the entire aviation sector.
Our process consists of five phases.
In collaboration with rule-makers and interested parties and their working arrangements, we determine the overall need and approach to be adopted by ensuring that the reason/problem requiring a standard is clear and justified and that the right type of standard is selected. Laterally, we provide impact assessment (IA) workshops for external stakeholders at the request of stakeholders who feel that a greater emphasis on IA is required, at all levels from R&D to deployment. IA starts upstream of all major developments and drives the decision-making and directions/solutions selected. Where applied properly, IA delivers successful mandatory and non-mandatory solutions. Examples are available in Europe. IA starts with problem analysis and leads to the identification of objectives and options to address the problem. It then rationalises which option may be best to develop. Once deployed, IA will also analyse the suitability of each solution, thereby refining the process.
Our experts draft the texts of future standards in cooperation with European organisations and institutions, States and industry. We proceed in an impartial manner, in strict compliance with the Agency’s working arrangements, directly involving stakeholders who express a special interest.
We validate the draft material through informal (end-to-end) or formal, open and wide public consultation. Formal consultation directly accesses over 200 stakeholders, and the material is also published on the website for public consumption. We work to ensure transparency and stakeholder involvement.
We publish the validated and approved standards on our website and they are free of charge.
In collaboration with our LSSIP colleagues, we monitor the use of our standards. We perform a periodic review of the existing standards to ensure relevance and reflect the evolution of the business (e.g. change in references, new technological developments, etc.). Stakeholders also have the possibility to initiate and/or contribute to the task by filing change requests for existing material. To provide feedback and suggest changes, please contact us.
Latest highlights
Tânia Cardoso Simões appointed EUROCONTROL’s Director European Green Sky
The way forward for Europe's aviation sector
EUROCAE and EUROCONTROL strengthen cooperation in aviation standards development
The latest episode in a long, successful story: ASTERIX categories 063 and 253 updated
