The Civil Aviation Regulators from 40 States gathered on 20 June 2023 for the Directors General of Civil Aviation Meeting of the ICAO European and North Atlantic (EUR/NAT) Regions under the theme "Joining Forces".
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The 2023 Meeting of the EUR/NAT Directors General of Civil Aviation, held at the ICAO Paris Office, focused on collaboration amongst all stakeholders to ensure a sustainable future of air transport network in a safe, secure, efficient, resilient and inclusive manner.
The meeting was opened by a video-recorded message of the ICAO Secretary General, Mr. Juan Carlos Salazar, who highlighted current priorities, including for the achievement of the Global Long-Term Aspirational Goal (LTAG), innovation and the strengthening of the global health crisis preparedness and management frameworks.
Mr. Nicolas Rallo, ICAO EUR/NAT Regional Director, and Ms. Tânia Cardoso Simões, Director General of Civil Aviation of Portugal, who was elected at the beginning of the meeting as Chairperson of this EUR/NAT DGCA meeting, also provided opening remarks to the event. Mr. Talgat Lastaev and Mr. Schmuel Zakay, respectively Directors General of Civil Aviation of Kazakhstan and Israel were elected as Vice-Chairpersons.
After the first session related to updates from the ICAO Paris Office, the next session addressed sustainability and in particular timely actions and cooperation to achieve the LTAG. The ICAO Paris Office presented updates on the global and regional environmental programmes and activities of ICAO. The United States shared their initiatives to achieve the LTAG and ACI-Europe presented on the Airport Carbon Accreditation programme.
The next discussions were held on efforts to enhance the resilience of the air transport sector, such as crisis preparedness and management, with a focus on public health related events and cybersecurity.
One of the highlights of the meeting was the presentation by the ICAO Paris Office of a new initiative to develop State-level "Collaborative Implementation Support Roadmaps" (CISRO), together with " Country Strategic Plans of Action" (COSPA) for interested States in the EUR/NAT area, under coordination by the ICAO Paris Office and in alignment with the concerned State's national development plan. This proposal was unanimously supported by the Meeting, and several States express their interest to benefit from such an initiative.
Updates were provided on ICAO's activities related to gender equality in civil aviation by the ICAO Regional Director. followed by an update by Mr. David Benito, Director General of Civil Aviation of Spain on the upcoming ICAO Global Aviation Gender Summit (Madrid, Spain, 5-7 July 2023). Ms. Polly Trottenberg, Deputy Secretary at the United States Department of Transportation, shared the United States' vision and activities on Gender Equality, which contributed to the engaging discussion. Once again, the Meeting supported enhanced information-sharing, coordination and cooperation under the auspices of ICAO, including actions to promote ongoing and future initiatives from States and Organizations.
The last session of the meeting addressed the ratification of international air law treaties and actions were agreed upon to help enhance timeliness in the ratification of multilateral air law treaties.
The meeting, which illustrated the commitment of States and Organizations join forces, avoiding duplication of efforts and exploring synergies whenever possible, was closed by the ICAO Regional Director and by the Chairperson of the EUR/NAT DGCA meeting.
The meeting was attended by 94 participants from 40 States and 9 Organizations. The meeting documents are available on the ICAO website.
On 21 June 2023, a separate event was organized by the Direction Générale de l'Aviation Civile (DGAC) of France for Directors General, at the occasion of the Salon du Bourget (International Paris Air Show).
