With an annual turnover of €186.8 billion (around $200 billion), which represents one percent of the European Union’s GDP, and employing more than 752,000 people, the European aerospace and defense industries play a key role in securing Europe’s future.
“Aeronautics, space, defense and security are all crucial for Europe’s key socioeconomic goals as they ensure sustainable mobility, provide highly skilled jobs and foster Europe’s knowledge through massive R&D investments,” said Jan Pie, secretary general of the Aerospace and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD). “In a nutshell, these industries help Europe achieve and maintain technological leadership.”
ASD is the industry association representing these four key sectors. Based in Brussels, the association voices the industry’s concerns and interests to the European institutions and international organizations. Its main objective is to enhance the competitive development of these industries by securing funds from the EU, influencing legislation, voicing the industry’s objective in global policy and regulatory matters, and representing Europe in the global arena.
“As a member-driven organization, ASD takes a stance on issues that have an impact across all companies,” Pie told AIN. “Our goal is to provide a common, holistic industry perspective to decision makers in order to maintain and enhance Europe’s leadership position.”
Policy Driven
The association’s membership is comprised of 27 national associations and 16 major companies from the aeronautics, space, defense and security sectors. ASD statutory bodies are the General Assembly and the Board, with the General Assembly deciding on the general policy of the association and the Board being responsible for the association’s management.
ASD works closely with its members via four sector-focused business units (civil aviation, space, security and defense) and six cross-functional “commissions” (economic, legal and trade, research and technology, environment, services, supply chain and external affairs). Furthermore, all ASD working bodies regularly gather industry representatives to pool their expertise in order to devise common solutions for the industry and to provide advice to officials and authorities dealing with the industry.
The objective of the ASD business units and commissions is to identify policy issues to be pursued at the European and EU Member State level and to propose strategies to maximize the benefits for industry. The association’s top priorities include:
· Implementation of the Horizon 2020 funding period, Clean Sky and Single Sky policies.
· Contribute to ICAO’s agenda through ICCAIA (the International Coordinating Council of Aerospace Industries Associations).
· Define and develop a strategic research agenda for the security sector.
· Contribute to the EU Preparatory Action for the Common Security & Defence Policy.
· Reshape ASD to best answer member’s needs and requirements.
To accomplish this ambitious agenda, each business unit and commission is supported by several permanent and ad-hoc committees and working groups. Their work involves discussing the detailed topics, drafting position papers and issuing recommendations to the industry and other stakeholders. The sectoral groups deal with the more focused sector interest and their work is also used as a basis for the work in all commissions and business units.
Mutual Recognition
One of ASD’s key objectives is to ensure market access and competitiveness for European industries. Thus, ensuring smooth certification of aircraft and aerospace products is of central importance.
One common concern from the U.S. aerospace sector is that EASA makes it difficult to get FAA-certified products certified in Europe. Although ASD represents companies whose products are certified by EASA, they still see the importance of creating open markets on both sides of the Atlantic.
Today, validation of certified products in either direction, from the U.S. to the EU or vice versa, is governed by the Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement (BASA) and its technical implementation process. This agreement provides a formal framework for cooperation and mutual recognition between EASA and the FAA.
“ASD, along with its industry counterpart in the U.S.–the Aerospace Industries Association of America (AIA)–is continuing to work with EASA and the FAA for further improvements to this agreement to increase the level of mutual recognition,” said Pie. “Our basic position is that both EASA and the FAA, when they are in the position of validating authority, should further rely on the activities performed by the primary authority to reduce their direct involvement in certification validation. As both are competent authorities, such direct involvement is simply duplication of effort for no safety benefit.”
In this sense, ASD is seeking some specific improvements to the EU-U.S. BASA. For example, European industry has heavily invested in becoming a certified design organization (DOA). ASD believes that this means the level of investigation and oversight by both EASA and the FAA should be commensurate with the maturity of that certified organization. Further, ASD advocates that EASA’s resources be focused on areas where safety improvements are most needed, as identified by the European Aviation Safety plan (EASp).
Another issue is that while EASA recognizes FAA production approvals from the whole of the U.S., the FAA still does not recognize the release of parts manufactured in all EU Member States under a production organization approval as per Part 21.A subpart G. “The FAA currently recognizes only POAs issued by EASA for 14 out of 28 Member States,” noted Pie. “This is unacceptable as all EU Member States are complying with the same European regulations and are under the oversight of EASA, which ensures consistent and standard application of the European requirements throughout Europe.”
Another topic of great importance is the emissions trading scheme (ETS), where ASD strongly advocates in favor of the development and implementation of global regulations via ICAO. “I strongly believe that we should always favor global solutions to global challenges, not European solutions to global challenges,” said Pie. “Aircraft emissions and their effect on the environment is clearly a global challenge and thus is more properly addressed by a UN-mandated body like ICAO as opposed to a regional Institution like the EU.”
Ensuring a Competitive Europe
All of ASD’s work is aimed at ensuring Europe remains competitive in an increasingly competitive and global aerospace and defense sector. “Europe tends to focus on the European processes, often at the expense of Europe’s position in the global marketplace,” said Pie. “Many of today’s emerging markets are huge single markets, and although Europe talks a lot about the single market, in reality we are far from being one.”
As a result, while Europe continues to look at the process of becoming a single market, it will face even harder competition as it becomes easier to do business in these other countries. “Our advantage in the aerospace and defense sector is about to be lost if we don’t work to make sure Europe’s rules and regulations benefit European industry, not hinder it,” Pie said.
To accomplish this, much of ASD’s work goes into advocacy aimed at ensuring the support of the political and civil service levels in Brussels, making them aware of the industry’s priorities and concerns. This is of particular importance now as Europe transitions to a new Parliament this summer and, soon thereafter, a new Commission.
“ASD will continue to work closely with the European Parliament as in the past, ensuring that newly elected EU representatives appreciate the competitiveness of the aerospace industry and its contribution to the European industrial and economic prosperity by its creation of high-level and high-value skilled jobs,” said Pie.
One example where the European process can and should be developed for increased industrial competitiveness is in the area of EU-funded research and development. The EU recently launched its Horizon 2020 funding period, a program aimed at promoting and funding European innovation and development–including in the aerospace sector. Although the intentions are good, in reality too often the process gets in the way.
Horizon 2020 has allocated over €70 billion toward European research and development, but Pie worries that, to some extent, instead of boosting the EU’s competitiveness, it will instead boost only the EU administrative process. “The feedback we get from members is that 25 percent of the effort to participate in these funding programs goes into administration, ” he said. “Too often we see complexity prevail over simplification, and in many cases companies simply find it more effective to ‘go it alone’.”
In comparison, Pie noted that in the U.S. the period between funding and results is much faster, giving companies there a distinct competitive advantage. “The reality is that in the EU the success rate for small budget proposals is only 10 percent–and this simply needs to change.”
Pie also noted that this transition period happening at the European level also provides an opportune time for ASD to build a more effective organization. To do this, Pie aims to increase the competency level within the organization’s staff in order to better support the member representatives. For example on the aviation side, as of November 1 Vincent De Vroey (formerly of the Association of European Airlines) will be joining ASD as its new director of civil aviation.
“The goal is that with greater competencies internally, with the new Commission and Parliament we will be better positioned to do more proactive forecasting on the issues most pertinent to our member companies,” concluded Pie. “As we transition from a reactive to a proactive association, I believe ASD will begin to drive the European aerospace, defense and security agenda.”