News

9 April 2021 - Driven by geopolitical uncertainties and growing awareness of technological dependencies and vulnerabilities, technological sovereignty has become an important point on the EU’s strategic agenda. As one of the key objectives of the European Commission, it has begun to appear frequently in EU policies and programmes.   At the same time, coherent and generally accepted responses to key questions are still missing: What does sovereignty mean in the context of technology and how can it be achieved? For which technologies does Europe want to be sovereign?

19 March 2021 - The Aerospace and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD) welcomes the European Commission's proposal for a regulation, dated 23rd February, establishing the Joint Undertakings under Horizon Europe (Single Basic Act). Especially, the Clean Aviation Partnership will be a key element to reach the ambitions of the EU Green Deal and implement the EU civil aviation sector's own Destination 2050 Roadmap (see www.destination2050.eu).

The Aerospace and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD) welcomes the European Commission's proposal for a regulation, dated 23rd February 2021, establishing the Joint Undertakings under Horizon Europe (Single Basic Act). In particular, ASD supports the European Commission’s proposal as Europe needs to modernise its ATM infrastructure, whereby SESAR is key to actualising this, and a clear regulatory framework and sufficient funding are needed.

Introduction One year into the COVID-19 pandemic and faced with new variants and a third wave in most of Europe, we continue to be faced with diverging national requirements, often introduced at very short notice.

Brussels, 11 February 2021: Europe’s aviation sector today unveiled its flagship sustainability initiative, Destination 2050 – A Route to Net Zero European Aviation. Driven by a new, independent report, it provides a vision and path for meaningful CO2 emission reduction efforts in Europe and globally.

  17 March 2021 – PRESS RELEASE:    Europe’s aviation sector welcomed today’s proposal by the European Commission for a Digital Green Certificate system. This proposal requires EU States to issue common, inter-operable and mutually-recognised certificates for COVID-19 vaccination, testing and recovery status that will facilitate free movement during the COVID pandemic and support the restart of travel.

Brussels, 31 March 2021 – In an insightful interview with Eurocontrol, Guillaume Faury, the CEO of Airbus, shared his thoughts on the current situation of the aviation sector and the major challenges ahead. The interview centred around the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, his views on the recovery from the crisis, and the path towards sustainable aviation. The interview is part of a series Eurocontrol, a Brussels based intergovernmental organisation, is conducting with industry leaders in the aviation sector. The full interview can be found here.    

Chemicals are an essential component of our daily lives, but some chemicals contain serious risks to health or the environment. The EU Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals Regulation (REACH) is an EU regulation (in force since 2007) adopted to improve protection of human health and the environment, while enhancing the competitiveness of the EU chemicals industry. Chemicals used in industrial processes, but also substances used in cleaning products, paints, textiles, electrical appliances etc.

  The Aerospace and Defence Industries Association of Europe is pleased to announce that Adrian Schmitz has joined ASD by March 15th as its new Communications Director. The newly created position is part of a plan to further strengthen ASD’s important work in strategic communications. Adrian is a Senior International Communications professional with 15+ years of experience in leading roles across different sectors in Europe and Latin America, including Senior Communications management at Ford of Europe. “I am delighted to welcome Adrian to ASD.

22 February 2021  1. Introduction This position paper highlights ASD’s concerns that local implementation of Information Security Management Systems (ISMS) in Approved Organisations as required by the new PART-IS regulation prepared by EASA (RMT.0720) and based on current EUROCAE ED-201A v0.7 version could lead to a non-optimal solution that does not guarantee the exhaustive implementation of the elements necessary for holistic and end-to-end protection of civil aviation safety.

22 February 2021 - Aerospace and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD) is the voice of Europe’s aeronautics, space, defence and security manufacturing industry. Headquartered in Brussels, with the space division (ASD-Eurospace) based in Paris, our association actively supports the competitive development of our industries in Europe and worldwide by advocating common positions and providing technical expertise to institutions and member companies. Our members form a unique, diverse and buoyant ecosystem that is of strategic importance for Europe.

  22 Febuary 2021 – PRESS RELEASE: Today, the European Commission presented its Action Plan on Synergies between civil, defence and space industries to further enhance Europe's technological edge and support its industrial base.

27 July 2020 - Ongoing discussions on European R&I partnerships will have a major impact on industry participation in these initiatives. Therefore, ASD would like to actively contribute to these discussions and settle the best foundations for the future Partnerships in Aeronautics and Space. An effective involvement of industry is particularly important in the context of the Covid-19 outbreak which has deeply affected the Aeronautics and Space sectors.

11 February 2021 - The current funding system for European research and innovation partnerships is costly, complex and bureaucratic. ASD welcomes the European Commission’s (EC) efforts to simplify the system. The introduction of lump sum funding aims at reducing the administrative burden and limiting the resources needed for the management of projects by eliminating the need for financial reporting and ex-post financial audits. However, it triggers new burdens and risks to projects.

February 2020 - It is of strategic importance that the European UTM industrial base has a forum to identify and develop a coordinated strategy and action plan. It is also critical that an open dialogue is maintained with its stakeholders, such as; the European Commission (e.g. DG MOVE), the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), EUROCONTROL, SESAR Joint Undertaking, air navigation service providers, standardisation bodies, national governments (e.g. national aviation authorities) and other institutions including international bodies.

As ASD Chairman, I welcome the release of Destination 2050 – A route to net zero European aviation. By reacting swiftly and consistently with a structured proposal, aims and ideas, the aerospace industry is proving to be a driving force in Europe’s evolution, and ASD remains true to its mission in fostering dialogue and collaboration among stakeholders for the benefit of its associates and for the sector’s competitiveness. ASD includes leading companies spanning the entire spectrum of the sector’s value chain.

Brussels, 9 December 2020: Five leading European aviation associations, representing aircraft manufacturers, airlines, airports and air navigation service providers have welcomed the ambition of the European Commission’s Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy, published earlier today. The Strategy is aligned with and reinforces the sector’s existing commitments towards a sustainable post-crisis future for aviation - and sets the stage for concrete decarbonisation proposals which will be unveiled next month.

8 December 2020 – The rollout is a special symbolic moment that represents a milestone in the life of an aeronautical program. It is a milestone eagerly awaited by our customers, partners and employees, united around the new aircraft that will soon be ready for takeoff.

10 November 2020 - ASD and the Top leaders of European Aerospace & Defence Industry have confirmed on 16th of October their full engagement to the European Pact for Skills plan for their relative eco-systems highlighting the crucial need to collectively address our unprecedented challenges.

18 November 2020 - A pioneering research study in the UK which aims to make operating theatres safer places during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, by using cameras normally used to test jet engines.