ECAC Triennial Session elects new president and approves work programme and budget for next three years
12 July - Directors General of ECAC Member States gathered online with high-level representatives from a number of ICAO Member States, regional and international organisations, and industry partners, including ICAO, the European Commission, EUROCONTROL, EASA, ACI EUROPE, A4E, CANSO and IATA, for ECAC’s 39th Plenary (Triennial) Session.
Opening the Session, which for the first time ever was not held in Strasbourg, ECAC President Ingrid Cherfils commented on ECAC’s commitment to supporting its Member States since the start of the COVID-19 crisis. She underlined how more than ever, coordination and harmonisation of measures had been at the heart of European action to ensure a fully coordinated approach for the restart and recovery of the sector and mutual recognition of measures, regionally and globally.
The Session featured opening remarks from ICAO Council President, Salvatore Sciacchitano, ICAO Secretary General-designate, Juan Carlos Salazar, and European Commission Director General for Mobility and Transport, Henrik Hololei.
Delegates heard reports from the Focal Points on ECAC’s activities during the triennium 2019-2021 in the fields of safety and accident investigation, unmanned aircraft systems, security, facilitation, environment, economic and legal matters, as well as from the JAA TO, and the Session adopted the ECAC work programme and budget for the next triennium (2022-2024).
Alessio Quaranta (DGCA Italy) was elected as the new president of ECAC. Damien Cazé (DGCA France), Johann Friedrich Colsman (DGCA Germany) and Raúl Medina Caballero, (DGCA Spain) were appointed as vice-presidents. The Triennial Session also elected all other members of the Coordinating Committee. Full membership of the Committee is available on the ECAC website.
Recalling the importance of cooperation with regional and international partners, Ms Cherfils invited representatives of ACAO (Arab Civil Aviation Organization), AFCAC (African Civil Aviation Commission), LACAC (Latin American Civil Aviation Commission), and WAEMU (West African Economic and Monetary Union), as well as from Kazakhstan, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and the United States, to offer statements on their cooperation with ECAC.
This year’s Session marked the end of Ms Cherfils’ second three-year mandate as president of the organisation. ECAC would like to take this opportunity to thank her warmly for her active involvement in ECAC’s activities over the years, for her excellent coordination, and constant determination to foster a culture of transparency and collective responsibility in order to promote safe, efficient, and sustainable civil aviation in the European region and internationally. We wish her every success in her new endeavours, and look forward to continuing and enhancing our activities with new president, Alessio Quaranta.
The documents and presentations from the Session are available on the ECAC website: https://www.ecac-ceac.org/events-and-meetings/past-events/ecac-39