Under Commissioner Janez Potocnik, one of the Research Directorate-General's primary missions is to support the Union's policies in other fields such as health, transport and environment. Nowhere is this approach more evident than in aeronautics where, under successive Framework Programmes for RTD, a variety of projects have been undertaken in support of EU policies.
Recent emphasis on the European Research Area (ERA) has highlighted the importance of an integrated and coordinated Europe-wide research network. Europe has suffered from the lack of co-operation among its scientific and research communities, but there are some notable exceptions. Co-operative research in the area of aeronautics, for example, has helped to establish Europe as the only serious competitor of the United States in that field.
Promoting cross-border RTD has become a priority for the EU as it comes to grips with the new knowledge-based economy of the future. Increased commercial competitiveness is a prime motivating factor for any such work, but aside from the obvious economic gains for European businesses, what is European aeronautics research for? Why is aeronautics research important and what larger European policy objectives does it serve?
Aeronautics and transport policy
In 1992, even before the advent of the single market, the European Commission approved a White Paper setting out a Common Transport Policy. It saw future transport as a single system in which the various modes would complement each other. This vision of 'intermodality' presupposes safe and efficient interfaces between the different modes ensuring optimum mobility and a more balanced distribution of traffic.
In September 2001, the European Commission published a new transport White Paper, entitled ‘European transport policy for 2010: time to decide’ placing users’ needs and competitiveness at the heart of transport policy. This underlies much of the work now being pursued in all of the transport sectors under the Sixth Framework Programme for RTD (FP6): the establishment of trans-European networks, fair pricing, environmental protection, safety, social safeguards and the strengthening of the single market.
Air transport fastest growing
Of all the forms of transport, aviation has shown the most striking growth over recent decades. Traffic through the airports of the Member States has risen at an average rate of 7.4% a year since 1980 – and, despite the downturn following the events of 11 September 2001 in the United States, substantial growth is expected to continue over the next decade. This has already led to airport overcrowding, overloaded air traffic control systems, increased noise pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
ACARE and the Strategic Research Agenda
In January 2001, a group of aeronautics personalities chaired by then Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin presented a report, entitled, ‘European aeronautics: a vision for 2020’. In it, they proposed the creation of a new ‘Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe’ (ACARE), whose goal would be to develop and implement a strategic approach to European aeronautics research. The proposal was duly adopted and ACARE began its work in June 2001.
A year later, ACARE unveiled the outline of a Strategic Research Agenda (SRA), which serves as an overall guide in the planning of research in national and EU programmes involving both public and private sectors. The blueprint called for integrated technological platforms, large-scale research test-beds, trans-national projects, and schemes to nurture innovation and technology transfer.
In March 2005, ACARE presented the second edition of its Strategic Research Agenda (SRA-2). The new edition looks 20 years into the future, presenting expected or potential technology requirements in the air transport sector, based on a series of possible scenarios for the coming decades.
ACARE strongly supports the March 2002 Barcelona Council objective of raising average Community R&D spending to 3% of European GDP by 2010, and targets a figure of €100 billion for aeronautics research investment.
Air transport and the environment
The areas of transport and environment are profoundly interlinked. In the European Union the proportion of total CO2 emissions generated by transport rose from 19% in 1985 to 26% in 1995, and if current trends and policies continue, CO2 emissions will go on rising significantly, making it very hard to meet the targets set at the 1997 Kyoto summit. Air traffic currently produces only 12% of transport-related CO2 emissions, but CO2 emissions are rising faster for air transport than for other modes of transport.
Environmental action by the Community began in 1972 with four successive action programmes. During this period, the Community adopted some 200 pieces of legislation, chiefly concerned with limiting pollution. Community action developed over the years until the Treaty on European Union conferred on it the status of policy. The Treaty of Amsterdam enshrined the principle of sustainable development as one of the Community's primary aims.
Given the increasing environmental concerns among citizens and institutions, and considering the projected ongoing growth of air traffic, much of the research undertaken in the field of aeronautics has focussed on environment-related topics.
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