Until the early 1990s, EU air transport was a highly regulated industry with limited scope for competition. However, the EU's liberalisation of the internal aviation market boosted the number of routes and frequencies and made air transport significantly cheaper.

Today the aviation sector employs 5.1 million people and contributes €365 billion or 2.4% to Europe's gross domestic product.

Why existing rules need to be updated

The aviation sector faces many risks, both economic such as fluctuations of the oil price, as well as those related to safety, including political crises and extreme weather. At the same time demand for air travel is growing. Global air transport is expected to grow by around 5% every year until 2030 and new competitors continue to enter the market. Other notable changes include increased congestion in the sky and on the ground

Because of these challenges, the Commission is working on an aviation package to identify the main issues and the measures needed to tackle them. The proposal is due to be released by the end of this year. The proposal should include a revision of regulation on civil aviation as well as the mandate of the European Aviation Safety Agency and will potentially introduce rules on drones at EU-level.

Parliament’s role

The Parliament has called several times for an update of existing rules to maintain Europe's excellent safety record in a changing and growing aviation market. MEPs debated it and voted on a related resolution on Wednesday 11 November during the plenary session in Brussels.