At the end of November 2024 the new European Commission took office after its election by the newly formed European Parliament and formal appointment by the European Council. The 1st of December 2024 marks the official start of the mandate 2024-2029, with a new structure implemented by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
The responsibility for airspace and aviation policy in Europe lies with the Directorate-General Mobility and Transport since 2010, known as DG MOVE. A bit of history: DG MOVE was created in 2010 to be responsible for EU policy on mobility and transport. Before this, transport and energy had been merged as DG TREN 2000 – 2010. In 2010, energy finally split as its own directorate, reflecting the strategic importance of energy for European politics.
New Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism
In December 2024 Apostolos Tzitzikostas was appointed as Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism, leading the Directorate-General DG MOVE. His task was summarised in the nomination in one sentence: “To make European transport more competitive, sustainable and resistant to future shocks, and to ensure that it is safe, accessible and affordable for all EU citizens”.
Aviation was not at the top of the concerns of the Commission President when she was defining the key issues for the term. Seventeen priorities were listed in the mission letter from the EC President to the transport and tourism commissioner, however only one of the seventeen mission priorities is dedicated to aviation and the Single European Sky implementation:
I would like you to engage in a comprehensive dialogue with Member States and stakeholders to address inefficiencies in air traffic management within the Single European Sky and propose action where barriers still persist.
The aviation team of DG MOVE
- Director-General: Magda Kopczynska. She serves in this role at the helm of the DG MOVE team since July 2023.
- Two Deputy Director-General: Maja Bakran Marchich and Herald Ruijters.
- Director for Aviation and Head of Directorate E: Filip Cornelis. Filip Cornelis has been in this position since October 2017.
- Head of MOVE.E.1 – Aviation Policy: Eddy Liegois
- Head of MOVE.E.2 – Aviation Agreements: (acting) Gzim Ocakogl
- Head of MOVE.E.3 – Single European Sky: Maria de Las Flores Diaz Pulido.
E.3 is responsible for SESAR. - Head of MOVE.E.4 – Aviation Safety and Deputy Director Aviation: Christine Berg.
E.4 is responsible for EASA.
For the SES stakeholders of importance, deputy head of MOVE.E.3 is Frederik Rasmussen, SESAR team leader is Erki Must.
All details can be found in the organisation chart, currently with the latest update as of 1 February.
Increasing complexity
Given the new structure of Commissioners and Directorates it will become more complex for some of the airspace stakeholders. In the 2024-2029 Commission a dedicated commissioner is responsible for Defence and Space (DG DEFIS), with many interdependencies with DG MOVE regarding space, civil-military and airspace management. The responsibility for research and innovation resides in DG RTD, including the responsibility for the EU flagship research programme Horizon Europe, which is also financing SESAR. We will feature both directorates and impacts for the SES2+ implementation in separate articles.
The new leadership team at DG MOVE faces a complex landscape, especially when it comes to securing future funding for critical initiatives as SESAR. Coordination with the defence commissioner and the commissioner responsible for research will be essential, given the overlapping interests in areas like digitalisation, sustainability, and security.
An added bonus
There’s a bonus for 2025, face-to-face meetings and conferences. We must not take this for granted and forget that the predecessor-teams of 2020 started their term in the rise of the Covid-19 pandemic and had to turn virtual in all activities. Many would agree that regulatory files in 2020/21 were suffering from these circumstances. Personal meetings and exchanges on conferences are drivers for building trust and to implement the ambitious aviation agenda. The SESAR JU annual conference on 18 February has been a great start into the conference season.
