Vol. 437 No. 6
498 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications his views on the proposal contained in the White Paper of the Commission of the European Communities to the effect that an integrated air traffic control system should be operated on a European rather than a national basis; and if Ireland will be supporting this proposal.
Ireland fully supports the strategy for air traffic control in Europe which was adopted in April 1990 by the Transport Ministers of the European Civil Aviation Conference, ECAC. The objective of the strategy is to increase airspace and air traffic control capacity in Europe.
One of the operational objectives of the strategy is the harmonisation and progressive integration of air traffic control systems. This harmonisation and integration programme is being managed by Eurocontrol, the European Organisation for the safety of Air Navigation, in partnership with ECAC and the European Union Commission. The Programme does not envisage, at this stage, the integration of the various national air traffic control ATC systems into one ATC unit for Europe but rather it involves the integration of the ATC system so that from the users' perspective it functions as if it were a single unit.
