What are the expectations of the Republic of North Macedonia from the BLUE MED FAB cooperation agreement?

The aviation is a system being mutually dependent on all participants at international as well as at national level, all bearing an international responsibility, therefore, Republic of North Macedonia main expectations from the BLUEMED FAB membership is the promotion of safe, expeditious and green air traffic services through mutual cooperation and  exchange of experience from the member states. Given the fact that the Republic of North Macedonia is one of the "non-EU partners", the experiences of the EU countries are of particular interest to the country as our goal would be to align the national regulation and the implementation of it with the EU one as soon as possible.

Republic of North Macedonia participates in international activities in coordination with international control bodies for this domain, such as ICAO and Eurocontrol.  The country aims to comply with ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices as far as reasonably practicable, the uniform application of which is recognized as necessary for the safety.

The Single European Sky initiative (SES) was launched in 1999 by the European Commission. The essential aim was to restructure the European ATM system and to develop more efficient air traffic by harmonizing and improving the provision of air navigation services. A part of the legal framework is establishing cross-border functional airspace blocks (FABs), so that a more rational organization of the airspace could be achieved. Nine FABs were created and notified to the European Commission with the following common strategic objectives: Safety, Capacity, Cost-effectiveness, Flight-efficiency, Environment, Military mission effectiveness. Since 2015, Republic of North Macedonia has been participating, with observer status, in the regular meetings of DANUBE FAB Governing Council. 

As from 2019, the delegation from North Macedonia is participating on the regular BLUE MED FAB Governing Council meetings. On April 27, 2020, a Memorandum of Cooperation between the Member States of the BLUE MED FAB and the Republic of North Macedonia was signed, and we expect intense mutual cooperation in the coming period.

With reference to M-NAV, the ANSP of the Republic of North Macedonia, what operational and technical benefits do you expect from the cooperation with the other 4 ANSPs of the BLUE MED FAB? How can cooperation among ANSPs help in achieving your objectives?

MNAV’s primary task is to contribute to the efficiency of the national transport system guaranteeing the safety and regularity of air traffic within the air space of North Macedonia to all categories of users, respecting the international obligations of the country.

In order to continue guaranteeing flight safety for millions of people and fulfilling their key role in European air transport to North Macedonia, MNAV has to pay constant attention to its medium and long term strategy choices.  These choices must take into consideration the context in which MNAV operates as aviation is a very interconnected and dependent system, which is comprised of and controlled by bodies and institutions relevant to the sector (ICAO, Eurocontrol) and regulated by European laws that have designed a strategy for the international ATM system. 

These organisations determine regulations and establish requisites along with clear quality and safety standards for air navigation service providers. They are also committed to incrementing interoperability between providers in every country.
MNAV faces all these challenges by defining development projects that set out important and complex investment plans, designed to reach as many technical-functional objectives as well as  financial ones that are to be aligned to the regional context in order to maximize the benefits for the users. These would be the main benefits for M-NAV that the cooperation within the FAB can deliver.

In Europe there are several initiatives to promote cooperation: SESAR, FABs, EASA, Deployment Manager, SES regulatory framework. Other initiatives are in place at ICAO and Eurocontrol level. And how is your Country involved in those initiatives? What is your view on the challenges that the European aviation is facing?

When talking about European aviation challenges, managing demand and growth are probably the biggest issues . Continued growth of the aviation sector has produced economic benefits and connectivity in Europe, however environmental and health impacts have increased and are expected to grow substantially in the next 20 years. In particular the predicted increase in greenhouse gas emissions, if not addressed, could undermine efforts to mitigate climate change and limit the global temperature rise.

The cooperation in the field of aviation, in the process of creation of development programmes regarding the aviation issues as a prerequisite and postulate to follow up and develop the aviation tradition of the Republic of North Macedonia, using the opportunities for submission of application for the EU pre–accession fund projects is of utmost importance.

FABs represent one of the pillars of the implementation of the Single European Sky regulatory framework and are expected to implement in a synchronized manner all SESAR deliveries.

Development and application of harmonized ATM standards as well as SESAR implementation in the region will certainly contribute to our mission in achieving our long-term vision. M-NAV has limited resources, especially in certain areas of expertise, so joint expert initiatives and programs are certainly desirable and expected in order to improve security, efficiency, capacity building; all this through proper care for the human environment.

What are your key priorities for the future, at national and international level?

The Republic of North Macedonia is a signatory to the European Common Aviation Area Agreement on the basis of which it has undertaken the obligation to transpose and implement the European aviation legislation. One of the expectations from the future cooperation with BLUE MED FAB is the exchange of experiences and challenges faced by European countries in both transposing and implementing the European regulations and directives.

The transposition of certain EU regulations and their practical application, exchange of operational procedures, directives, manuals and guidelines prepared by the national aviation authorities in order to facilitate the implementation of European aviation legislation is of special interest of the country.

As mentioned before as a non-EU partner, the transposition of certain EU regulations and their practical application are of particular interest to M-NAV.

In the short term, the following areas are of particular interest to M-NAV: Implementation of civil / military cooperation; PBN Implementation; Aeronautical Data Quality and initiatives in the Safety Domain,

Regarding the long-term interest and related to the implementation of the new ATM system in M-NAV: Cross-border Free Route Operations; Air Ground Data-Link Coordinated Deployment and Complementary OLDI Messages implementation.