In the next 10 years, how will the role of EUROCONTROL change to support the realization of SES and what are the priorities of your mandate?
It is clear that, as the Single European Sky initiative progresses, the nature of European Air Traffic Management is changing.  We see the need for ATM to become more focused on performance. ATM plays an important part in helping European aviation to become more competitive.  As long as the same product, to control one flight for one flight hour costs in Europe nearly double the price than in the US, we have a lot of home work to do. ATM is also evolving as the importance of sharing information across the network grows. 
I see EUROCONTROL continuing to significantly support this process, responding to the changing needs of its stakeholders and, as in the case of Centralised Services, proactively developing future concepts to help the EUROCONTROL Member States and their ANSPs to improve the performance of Air Traffic Management on a pan-European basis as we have done in the past with FUA, EAD, RVSM, just to name a few examples.  We are also committed to making our direct, pro rata contribution to the cost efficiency targets for both Reference Periods 1 and 2 of the European Union Performance Scheme.  

The European Commission has just forwarded to Parliament and Council a reform called SES 2 , providing for a series of regulatory changes to enhance the performance of the European ATM system also by recognizing the industry's key role. What part could EUROCONTROL play to support this initiative?   
EUROCONTROL has supported the Single European Sky for several years.  Indeed, we are a founding member and major contributor to the SESAR Joint Undertaking, we provide the support for the Performance Review Body and we act as Network Manager.  SES 2 is still at a very early stage in its development but we welcome the support given to EUROCONTROL by theEuropean Commission it its announcement of SES 2 and the explicit recognition of the value of the Centralised Services initiative.
The involvement of EUROCONTROL in the Single European Sky is particularly valuable as we not only contribute technical expertise and a unique civil-military capability but we also bring apan-European dimension. We have 39 Member States, 40 from the beginning next year with the accession of Georgia. Negotiations are ongoing with other European States interested in becoming EUROCONTROL Members. We also work very closely with several of Europe's immediate neighbours, with the United States and with ICAO.
Aviation is inherently global in nature and this is reflected in our ways of working. EUROCONTROL has explicitly stated that it is not at all interested in being a competitor to the ANSPs; rather it wishes to be a facilitator, helping ANSPs to extend services beyond their current national boundaries.  This is why EUROCONTROL needs to tender all Centralised Services and contract them to the ANSPs.

One of the activities in progress is EUROCONTROL's institutional reform. What are the next steps of the reform and what is your view of the ANSPs' role in the future governance of the organisation?    

EUROCONTROL has refined its relationship with the European Commission through the High Level Agreement signed at the end of 2012.  The Annexes to this agreement, which set out in more detail the way of working in specific areas, are in the process of being discussed and agreed.  
The next step is to consider the governance of EUROCONTROL more generally.  Here we need to factor in the changing nature of European ATM, including in particular the increasing separation of ANSPs from their governments.  We are currently consulting with all our stakeholders on how EUROCONTROL could be structured in the future and what sort of governance would be best to provide to all Stakeholders the best added value.  We expect to develop proposals based on this consultation during the course of 2014.

EUROCONTROL is developing a proposal on "Centralised Services". Some of these could be considered a natural extension of the Network Manager, others are connoted as infrastructural services strongly interconnected to the core business of the ANSPs and the already existing infrastructure. Recognizing the ANSPs' centrality in those services, how will EUROCONTROL contribute? 

Centralised Services are being developed to help ANSPs by providing a more efficient service where it makes more sense to organise the service at a pan-European level, rather than a FAB or national level - in order to come closer to, or even to achieve, the EU RP2 performance targets.  Typically such services involve the exchange of data across the European network, something that is an integral part of the SESAR operational concept.
The majority of the Centralised Services that we want to further develop and put out to tender are, at present, partially provided by EUROCONTROL.  Only a very small part of them are currently operated by ANSPs at all; of these, they are operated, in some cases, by only a small number of ANSPs.
It is planned that the operation of such services should be undertaken by a consortium including both European ANSPs and manufacturing industry.We propose to extend the ANSPs dominated governance in the Network Management Board (NMB) to, in the future, be responsible for all Centralised Services.