Commission plans industrial strategy for aviation

The European Commission is working on a dedicated industrial strategy for the aviation sector, which would set out the direction of future EU research and innovation funding. 

The move was confirmed by Filip Cornelis, director for aviation at the Commission’s transport directorate, after transport Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas backed industry moves in the same direction.

“I believe that, indeed, it is now the time for the European Union to review its position towards its aeronautics and aviation industries and the airlines,” Tzitzikostas said at the annual conference of the Aerospace, Security and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD) on December 2. Any strategy should be designed and implemented with industry, he added.

As part of the strategy, the Commission will look at possibilities for regulatory simplification and at a successor to the two existing Horizon Europe partnerships for aviation-related research and innovation: the Clean Aviation and Sesar joint undertakings.

Cornelis said the Commission would need “a lot of input from the industry” on its requirements and expectations for joint undertakings over the next decade, a timescale dictated by the EU’s next Multiannual Financial Framework, which runs to the end of 2034.

It’s currently unclear whether Clean Aviation and Sesar will continue as separate partnerships or merge into one. The Commission’s proposal for the post-2027 Horizon Europe programme lists “smart and clean aviation” and “automated air traffic management,” which are the missions of the current joint undertakings, as one possible “moonshot” project for which the EU could provide funding from research to development and deployment.

Europe is a global leader in aviation, representing around 40% of the global civil aeronautics market, according to ASD. But a clear strategy is needed to ensure Europe retains its position amid growing competition from the US and China, industry argues.

“We shouldn’t take this leadership for granted,” said Micael Johansson, ASD president and chief executive of Saab, at the conference. “The crisis in other sectors, like the automotive sector, shows that even an innovative and flourishing industry can easily be put at risk.”

The ASD’s own strategy, presented at the conference, calls for at least a doubling of EU funding for civil aviation research in the next long-term EU budget.

It also repeats a request from the joint undertakings for EU research funding worth €5.3 billion for aircraft technologies and €700 million for air traffic management technologies in the next Horizon Europe programme. Clean Aviation and Sesar are set to receive €1.7 billion and €600 million respectively from the Commission under the current programme.

Meanwhile, the industry wants at least 20-25% of the Innovation Fund, which is funded by EU Emissions Trading System revenues, to be dedicated to civil aviation decarbonisation efforts. Currently, the selection criteria and application process are ill-suited to the needs of innovative aviation technologies and sustainable aviation fuel production, it says.

It’s not just about civil aviation. The Commission plans to provide targeted funding for dual-use innovation with civil and military potential to make European technologies more competitive and interoperable.

“As the European Defence Fund and other EU instruments continue to expand, the convergence between civil aeronautics, defence, space and security becomes increasingly evident,” Tzitzikostas said.

He pointed to the growing importance of drones, unmanned systems and autonomous technologies. “They strengthen surveillance, logistics, environmental protection, emergency response and tactical operations,” he said. This will require “substantial investment, regulation that keeps pace with innovation, and above all, industrial capacity.”

He went on to underline the need for predictable, harmonised and innovation-friendly rules for AI-based systems, from design and manufacturing to maintenance and monitoring. “If Europe can combine technological excellence with a robust safety culture, AI can become a powerful accelerator of our industrial competitiveness,” he said.

With EU support and coordinated national policies that help ensure European innovation reaches industrial scale quickly, Europe can become a leader in advanced drone and counter-drone systems, Tzitzikostas said. “This is fully understood at the European level [. . .] Concrete actions will follow.”

While European militaries rely heavily on US technologies, Europe does have strengths, notably as a result of its integrated aerospace and defence ecosystem. That means “common technologies, common teams, common engineering services and design offices, but also common platforms and common suppliers,” said Airbus chief executive Guillaume Faury.

“That’s something we have probably done better than others. In the US, for instance, there is an incredible defence sector, but it’s very specific,” he told the conference.

While dual use is already an industrial reality in Europe, “at political and government level, I still see a lot of separation between those two worlds,” said Cornelis, from the Commission.

Renew Europe MEP Christophe Grudler, a member of the Parliament’s research and industry committee, raised similar concerns and called for multiple commissioners, including Andrius Kubilius, responsible for defence and space, and Stéphane Séjourné, in charge of industrial strategy, to be involved in developing any future strategy.

When it comes to sustainable aviation, technological innovation is just one part of the equation. Progress is also urgently needed on the availability of synthetic fuel and hydrogen. Airbus, for instance, has decided to delay the launch of its hydrogen aircraft due to the lack of available green hydrogen.

Last month, the Commission adopted a Sustainable Transport Investment Plan, which includes measures to mobilise investment in sustainable aviation fuels, which are produced from renewable or waste materials but are currently between two and ten times more expensive than traditional jet fuel.

This article was published in Science Business