What this theme covers
Policy, Regulation & Governance addresses the rules, institutions, and political frameworks that determine the legal and operational context within which ANSPs operate. At ASW 2026 the track covers the revised Single European Sky regulatory package (SES2+), now operational and generating its first performance assessment cycle; EASA's rulemaking programmes for ATM including the AI Roadmap and the revised Part-ATM; ICAO standards and recommended practices development at the global level; and the governance of Functional Airspace Blocks (FABs) under the revised SES framework.
This is the track where the gap between regulatory intent and operational reality is examined — where ANSP executives, policymakers from the European Commission, DG MOVE, and Member State transport ministries, and representatives of the EUROCONTROL Agency debate the performance of the framework and the conditions for reform.
The track also covers international regulatory alignment: the divergence between European, US (NextGen/FAA), and Asian ATM regulatory frameworks, and the ICAO processes that provide the only plausible route to global harmonisation.
Why it matters now
SES2+ entered operational application in the current Reference Period (RP4), making 2026 the first year in which European ANSPs are being assessed against its revised performance targets — sharper than the RP3 targets that were already being missed — and in which the enforcement mechanisms that were strengthened under SES2+ are available for use.
The combination of tighter targets, stronger enforcement, and a resurgent capacity challenge creates the conditions for the most consequential year of SES governance since the framework was established. The European Commission's position, and individual Member State responses, will be shaped significantly by what emerges at ASW 2026.
Five questions, answered
What is SES2+ and what does it change from the original Single European Sky?
SES2+ (the revised Single European Sky framework, agreed in 2024) is the legislative update to the 2004 SES regulatory package that governs the management of European airspace. The principal changes from the original framework are: sharpened performance targets across capacity, cost-efficiency, safety, and environment for the current and future Reference Periods; a strengthened role for the EUROCONTROL Network Manager with expanded authority in tactical flow management; revised governance for cross-border ATM service provision, making Functional Airspace Blocks more accountable for collective performance; and a tightened relationship between SES performance assessment outcomes and eligibility for EU funding under the Connecting Europe Facility.
The enforcement mechanism change is the most consequential: the revised framework gives the European Commission clearer tools to act where Member State ANSPs systematically fail against performance targets, including the ability to withhold funding and require performance improvement plans with enforceable milestones.
What are Functional Airspace Blocks and are they working?
Functional Airspace Blocks (FABs) are the cross-border airspace management units established under the original Single European Sky framework, intended to replace the fragmentation of European airspace across 37 national ANSPs with a smaller number of larger, operationally coherent blocks. Nine FABs were established across Europe, each comprising two or more national ANSPs with a mandate to deliver efficiency gains through service integration, shared infrastructure, and cross-border sector design.
The honest assessment in 2026 is mixed. Some FABs have delivered genuine operational integration — FABEC, covering the highest-density airspace in Europe, has coordinated sector design and capacity planning effectively. Others have remained primarily administrative structures without meaningful service integration. SES2+ strengthens the accountability framework for FABs without fundamentally changing the political economy that made cross-border integration difficult — national sovereignty over civil airspace and the employment interests of ANSP workforces remain the primary constraints.
How does EASA regulate air traffic management?
EASA (the European Union Aviation Safety Agency) is the EU regulatory authority for aviation safety, and its mandate covers ATM through the Common Requirements for ANSPs (Commission Regulation (EC) No 1035/2011, superseded by EASA's Part-ATM framework) and the provisions of the EASA Basic Regulation.
In practice, EASA's ATM regulatory role centres on certification of ANSPs against safety management requirements; the rulemaking programme developing technical standards for ATM equipment and procedures; oversight of ATM-specific human factors and training requirements (Part-ATCO); and the AI Roadmap that governs how artificial intelligence tools can be certified for use in air traffic control. EASA does not directly oversee economic regulation of ANSPs — that remains the role of national performance review bodies and the European Commission under the SES framework.
What is ICAO's role in setting ATM standards globally?
The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) is the UN specialised agency responsible for international civil aviation standards and recommended practices (SARPs), published in the Annexes to the Chicago Convention. For ATM, the primary SARPs are in Annex 11 (Air Traffic Services), Annex 2 (Rules of the Air), and Annex 10 (Aeronautical Telecommunications), supplemented by the PANS-ATM (Procedures for Air Navigation Services — Air Traffic Management).
ICAO SARPs are the baseline from which national and regional regulatory frameworks derive. They define the minimum standards for ATC service provision, airspace classification, phraseology, separation standards, and the management of ATC incidents. When regional frameworks like the SES or the FAA's NextGen diverge from ICAO standards, international operations become complex — a primary reason why ICAO's standards development process remains influential even as regional frameworks advance faster than global consensus can follow.
Why has European ATM reform taken so long and what will change it?
European ATM reform has progressed slowly for a structural reason: airspace management is a sovereign competence of EU Member States, exercised by national ANSPs that are typically state-owned or heavily regulated entities with politically significant workforces. The economic incentives for cross-border integration — route efficiencies, shared infrastructure costs, capacity gains — accrue to airspace users (airlines and passengers) rather than to the ANSPs or Member State governments that bear the adjustment costs.
The factors that could accelerate change in 2026 are: the enforcement credibility of SES2+, which for the first time creates a credible financial penalty for non-compliance; the capacity pressure of a resurgent traffic environment that is exposing the cost of fragmentation in real-time delays; and the decarbonisation agenda, which creates a new political constituency — environmental advocates and the European Commission DG CLIMA — with an interest in ATM efficiency that was absent from previous reform cycles.
Sessions covering this theme
ASW 2026 sessions under this track cover SES2+ first performance cycle assessment, EASA AI rulemaking, FAB governance reform, and the ICAO standards development pipeline.
What ASW 2025 told us about this theme
ASW 2025 was the last major ATM event before SES2+ entered operational application — making 2026 the first accountability reckoning. Read the ASW 2025 retrospective
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