The EUROCAE General Assembly and Symposium took place in Madrid, on the 23rd and 24th of April. One part of each General Assembly is the administrative work on the governance of EUROCAE. The goal of the association is to publish and maintain standards for civil aviation and it has a small team of technical project managers, however the majority of the work is made by the members themselves, organised in working groups and supervised by the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC).
The members of the TAC as well as the council members, the vice-president and the president are elected amongst their peers and all work on a voluntary basis, just like members of working groups. It is common to see group members working for competing companies join forces in EUROCAE working groups and define future standards together, and this is a unique feature of the association.
Besides this, the General Assembly consists of a review of the accounting reports, voting on the financial results, reports by the Director General and President, etc. The event lasts for two days and the Gala Dinner on the evening of the first day is also marked by the Awards Ceremony, during which members who did provide outstanding contributions during the past year are distinguished.
Standards for all of aviation
The second part of the event, the Symposium is made up of panel discussions, flash talks and fireside chats covering many aspects of standardisation in aviation. It is a great opportunity to meet with technical experts working on a broad range of subjects and the coffee and lunch breaks offer networking opportunities in a relaxed setup.
Here is a selection of topics (for the full list, visit this link):
- Bridging the Gap Between Military and Civilian Aviation
- Human – AI Teaming
- Advancing ATM Ground Equipment Certification
- Shaping Tomorrow’s Airports
- Supporting Ambitious EU Space Programmes
- IAS Operations: From Concept to Implementation
The presentations are not made available but video recordings of the sessions can be found on EUROCAE’s website.
A word from the Anna Groote, Director General
I had the opportunity for a quick chat with Anna von Groote, who is Director General since2022 and she said “the EUROCAE Symposium 2025 was a remarkable gathering of minds committed to the future of aviation. The quality of discussions and the level of engagement were truly inspiring. I am particularly proud of the dynamic exchanges we witnessed this year. It’s through such open dialogue that real progress takes place.”
Anna added “Whilst it is clear that safety will always remain the top priority for aviation, many panels acknowledged the importance of sustainability and the impact of climate change on aviation – a topic that will become more and more important and which EUROCAE will support as best we can through relevant standardisation activities.”
The event keeps changing venues and next year’s edition will take place in Dublin, on the 22nd and 23rd of April 2026.
