SESAR Deployment Manager and European Investment Bank join forces in support of Single European Sky Initiative

Today, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Pim van Ballekom and Managing Director of the SESAR Deployment Manager (SDM) Massimo Garbini signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to reinforce and expand cooperation between the two organisations.

The SDM is tasked by the European Commission with developing and implementing the technology deployment phase of the Single European Sky Initiative, meant to defragment the EU’s airspace so as to increase capacity, improve safety, lower environmental impact and reduce costs for airspace users. The MoU is intended to formalize the way in which the EIB and SDM will work together towards ensuring financial instruments are available to support the financing of the SESAR Deployment Programme.

Present at the signing, Violeta Bulc, EU Commissioner for Transport said: “SESAR is an ideal project for the EIB to support, on the one hand because it is a key element of the Union’s transport policy – on the other, because of the significant contribution it can make to European economic growth and employment. I am particularly pleased to see this cooperation being formalised today through a Memorandum of Understanding. This is a strong signal to the entire aviation community on the success of the SESAR projects. It is also as a model for cooperation between European Institutions and aviation stakeholders.”

In view of the focus on Air Traffic Management (ATM) modernisation shared by the European Commission, the EIB and the SDM are working together to offer a range of financial products to the industry. This way, SESAR Deployment Manager’s stakeholders (Air Navigation Service Providers, Airports and Airlines) will have access to the most appropriate financial products to help them implement the technology changes required by the Deployment Programme.

Pim van Ballekom, EIB Vice-President, added: “We are confident that this cooperation with the SDM will benefit not only the aviation and air traffic management (ATM) sector but ultimately also passengers and the general public. The EIB will draw on the SDM’s vast knowledge of the sector and combine that with the Bank’s financial and technical expertise to offer financial solutions to the industry. Harmonization, safety and efficiency should be the watchwords for the ATM industry moving forward and the Bank will do it all it can to support these aspirations through concrete investments.”

Through the cooperation, suitable financial mechanisms and instruments are being put in place for a sustainable financing of the SESAR Deployment Programme. This should also be seen in the context of the EUR 315 billion European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) of the Investment Plan for Europe.

“Our stakeholders will benefit from the financial expertise of the European Investment Bank, which is reinforcing the overall support SESAR Deployment Manager is giving. With the support of the European Commission, the MoU reflects the pioneering role ATM modernisation gets to play in the future of European transport” said SDM’s Managing Director Massimo Garbini.

Background information:

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its Member States. It makes long-term finance available for sound investment in order to contribute towards EU policy goals.

The SESAR Deployment Manager (SDM) is the industrial partnership that synchronises and coordinates the modernisation of Europe’s air traffic management system under the political oversight of the European Commission.

The main task of the SESAR Deployment Manager is to develop, submit to the European Commission for its approval and execute the Deployment Programme, a project view strictly drawn from the Pilot Common Project (PCP) set by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 716/2014, as well as any subsequent Common Projects in future regulations.

Through the Deployment Programme, the SESAR Deployment Manager will ensure efficient synchronization and coordination of implementation projects required to implement the PCP, as well as the related investments.

The tasks of the Deployment Manager are described in Article 9 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 409/2013.

Press contacts:

EIB: Tim Smit, [email protected], Tel.: +352 691 286423
Website: www.eib.org/press – Press Office: +352 4379 21000 – [email protected]

SDM: Cliff van Craen, [email protected], Tel: +32 478 818171