The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) has established a new Technical Committee (TC AERO), whose work will focus primarily on supporting European initiatives in the Air Traffic Management sector. This committee will deal with interoperability aspects of the European Air Traffic Management Network (EATMN) under the Single European Sky regulation.
Under mandates from the European Commission it will be responsible for developing European standards satisfying the essential requirements and/or Implementing Rules of the Single European Sky Interoperability Regulation (552/2004/EC). This Regulation gives standards a central role in achieving its objectives, and the standards to be produced by the new committee will be given the status of Community Specifications when referenced by the EC in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU).
In addition to its role in creating candidate Community Specifications, the Aeronautical Technical Committee will produce other technical standards and reports related to interoperability in EATMN. It will liaise as necessary with other standards organizations, including CEN and CENELEC, and with relevant civil and military aeronautical organizations (such as ICAO and NATO). Specifically, the committee will work in close co-operation with the European Organization for Civil Aviation Equipment (EUROCAE), as explicitly required by the Interoperability Regulation, the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (EUROCONTROL) and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
It will also take into account the requirements of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the European Conference of Posts & Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) in the production of standards, studies and reports for radio communication, navigation and surveillance systems.