Subject matter and scope
1. This Regulation lays down detailed rules for the implementation of air traffic management network functions (network functions) in accordance with Article 6 of Regulation (EC) No 551/2004. It also lays down rules for managing network crises.
2. The network functions subject to this Regulation shall be the following:
(a)
the European Route Network Design (ERND);
(b)
the Air Traffic Flow Management (ATFM) as referred to in Article 6(7) of Regulation (EC) No 551/2004 and in Regulation (EU) No 255/2010;
(c)
as regards the coordination of scarce resources:
(i)
radio frequencies within aviation frequency bands used by general air traffic;
(ii)
the radar transponder codes.
3. For the purpose of implementing the network functions, this Regulation applies to Member States, the Network Manager, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (the Agency), airspace users, air navigation service providers, airport operators, airport slot coordinators, at local, national or functional airspace block level.
4. This Regulation applies to the airspace within the ICAO EUR region where Member States are responsible for providing air traffic services within the meaning of Article 2(11) of Regulation (EC) No 549/2004. This Regulation may apply also to the airspace within the ICAO EUR, NAT, AFI and MID regions where third countries as referred to in Article 24(1) are responsible for providing air traffic services.
Definitions
For the purposes of this Regulation, the definitions in Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 549/2004, Article 2 of Commission Regulation (EU) No 255/2010 and Article 2 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 2150/2005 ( 7 ) shall apply.
The following definitions shall also apply:
(1)
‘scarce resources’ means the supply of means used for ATM to function effectively and which are limited in availability and are coordinated centrally by the Network Manager to ensure the performance of the European Air Traffic Management Network (the network);
(2)
‘aviation frequency band’ means an entry in the Radio Regulations Table of Frequency Allocations of the International Telecommunication Union of a given frequency band in which frequency assignments are made for the general air traffic;
(3)
‘airport operator’ means the body which in conjunction with other activities or otherwise, has the task under national laws or regulations of administering and managing the airport facilities and coordinating and controlling the activities of the various operators present at the airport or within the airport system concerned;
(4)
‘airport slot coordinator’ means a qualified natural or legal person appointed in accordance with Article 4(1) of Regulation (EEC) No 95/93;
(5)
‘operational stakeholders’ means the civil and military airspace users, civil and military air navigation service providers and airport operators which operate in the airspace referred to in Article 1(4);
(6)
‘Network Manager’ means the body entrusted with the tasks necessary for the execution of the functions referred to in Article 6 of Regulation (EC) No 551/2004;
(7)
‘associated countries’ means third countries that are members of Eurocontrol other than those who participate in the work of the Network Manager in accordance with Article 24(1);
(8)
‘performance scheme’ means the regulatory framework to improve the performance of air navigation services and network functions in the single European sky as referred to in Article 11 of Regulation (EC) No 549/2004;
(9)
‘cooperative decision-making’ means a process in which decisions are made based on interaction and consultation with Member States, operational stakeholders and other actors as appropriate, in accordance with Articles 15 to 17;
(10)
‘Performance Review Body’ means the independent group of experts on the performance of air navigation services and network functions in the single European sky set up by Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2016/2296 ( 8 ) ;
(11)
‘Network Management Board’ means the board established by this Regulation that monitors and steers the execution of the network functions including the performance of the tasks of the Network Manager in accordance with Article 18;
(12)
‘operational action’ means the action, at local, national, FAB or network level, as determined in the Network Operations Plan, through cooperative decision making between operational stakeholders and the Network Manager;
(13)
‘network crisis’ means a state of inability to provide air navigation service at the required level, resulting in a major loss of network capacity, or a major imbalance between network capacity and demand, or a major failure in the information flow in one or several parts of the network following an unusual and unforeseen situation;
(14)
‘civil-military cooperation’ means the interaction between civil and military authorities and components of ATM referred to in Article 3(1) necessary to ensure safe, efficient and harmonious use of the airspace;
(15)
‘conditional route (CDR)’ means an ATS route that is only available for flight planning and used under specified conditions;
(16)
‘European representative bodies’ means any legal person or entity representing the interests of one or several categories of operational stakeholders at the European level;
(17)
‘State focal point’ means, in the context of crisis management, the persons in the Member States liaising with relevant national crisis management structures and organisations and the European Aviation Crisis Coordination Cell;
(18)
‘impact on the network’ means, in the context of the radio frequency function set out in Annex III, a situation where a radio frequency assignment will degrade, obstruct or interrupt the functioning of one or more radio frequency assignments of the network or will counter the optimal use of aviation frequency bands within the scope of this Regulation;
(19)
‘airspace design’ means a process that ensures the development and implementation of advanced navigational capabilities and techniques, improved route networks and associated sectorisation, optimised airspace structures and capacity-enhancing ATM procedures;
(20)
‘airspace utilisation’ means the way that airspace is operationally used;
(21)
‘free route airspace’ means a specific airspace within which airspace users can freely plan their routes between an entry point and an exit point without reference to the ATS route network;
(22)
‘air traffic control sector’ (‘ATC sector’) means a defined volume of airspace for which a team of controllers has ATC responsibility at any given time;
(23)
‘user required route’ means the required routing that is declared by the aircraft operators at the airspace design stage to meet their needs;
(24)
‘sector configuration’ means a scheme combining airspace sectors with a view to ensuring that the operational requirements are best met and airspace availability is optimised;
(25)
‘air traffic service route (ATS route)’ means a specified part of the airspace structure designed for channelling the flow of traffic as necessary for the provision of air traffic services;
(26)
‘frequency assignment’ means authorisation given by a Member State to use a radio frequency or radio frequency channel under specified conditions.
Components of the network
1. For the purpose of this Regulation, the network shall include the airports, the airspace structures and interfaces that connect them, and the infrastructure and operational capabilities of the EATMN that together serve the civil and military airspace users.
2. Operational stakeholders and the Network Manager, within the limits of their respective responsibilities, shall plan, design, operate and monitor the network components referred to in paragraph 1 in accordance with the Network Strategy Plan and the Network Operations Plan, specified in Articles 8 and 9 respectively, with a view to improve network efficiency, interoperability and connectivity and the achievement of the local and Union-wide performance targets as set out in the performance scheme.
