Regional meeting of the representatives of the CAAs and national supervisory bodies was held at the invitation from the Civil Aviation Directorate of the Republic of Serbia in Belgrade on 22 January 2015. The meeting was held in the Area Control Centre with the aim of promoting the regional cooperation in civil aviation.

 

The meeting was attended by Mr Zoran Ilic, Deputy Minister of Civil Engineering, Transport and Infrastructure of the Republic of Serbia, Ingrid Schefils president of the European Civil Aviation Conference and director of the civil aviation authority of Sweden, Mr Dejan Mojsoski,  a representative from Eurocontrol, directors and representatives of the relevant aviation authorities of the countries in the region - Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia, including the representatives from the Aviation Academy in Belgrade and the Aviation Association of Serbia.

 

Director of the Director of Civil Aviation Directorate, Ms Mirjana Cizmarov, addressed the participats with the opening speech saying that the particularity of this region creates an opportunity for diverse forms of mutual cooperation and joint participation at European aviation forums, since the countries in the region are both EU Member States and candidates.

 

“Direct cooperation with the peers from the civil aviation authorities of the EU Member States is certainly a valuable experience for countries that are currently on the road to accession, while mutual cooperation between civil aviation authorities of candidate countries facilitates the fulfilment of mutual obligations that lie ahead until final accession has been achieved”, said Ms Cizmarov .

 

The President of the European Civil Aviation Conference and director of the civil aviation authority of Sweden, Ms Ingrid Shefils, highlighted the great value this European organization holds in the concept of regional cooperation recommending it to all its members, considering the insufficient financial resources and personnel in all states. Ms Shefils also noted that such cooperation could be improved by pooling groups for individual types of cooperation.

 

Mr Zoran Ilic, Deputy Minister of Civil Engineering, Transport and Infrastructure, Government of the Republic of Serbia said that this ministry would provide any support to the regional cooperation in aviation. “Our outputs should be towards a more comparative advantage, stronger and stable position of this mode of transport, so that a more pressing development in rail and road transport in the region create an even greater incentive for our further development of operations”, said Ilic.

 

This meeting also presented the opportunity for signing the Protocol on cooperation in the process of certification of the Bosnia and Herzegovina air traffic control. This document was signed by Ms Mirjana Cizmarov, the Director General of the Serbian CAA and Mr Djordje Ratkovica, Director General of the CAA of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

 

At the meeting were discussed ATM issues, SaR, and joint participation of regional countries in the EU projects. Cooperation in the implementation of the concept of the Single European Sky and the concept of Functional Airspace Blocks were also items on the agenda. .

 

The Civil Aviation Directorate of the Republic of Serbia had the intention to support and continue the already established practice of holding meetings of the civil aviation authorities of the countries in the region, since the meeting held in Berovo and Sofia confirmed that such forums represent a unique opportunity for direct discussions on issues of common interest.