The 202nd Session of the ICAO Council resumed on 9 June 2014. The Council phase of the 202nd Session ended on 27 June 2014. The Council meetings have been attended by the Permanent Representative of Poland on the Council dr Małgorzata Polkowska.
During the first meeting of the Council the new representatives from Argentina and Saudi Arabia have been welcomed. The participants were familarized with the schedule for consideration of items during the 202nd Session of the Council. The Council members discussed issues regarding the celebration of the International Civil Aviation Day, a Report of Joint Support Committee (JSC) on Recommendations of the Joint Support Committee related to items under the Danish and Icelandic Joint Financing Agreements reviewed during the 202nd Session, a Report of the Working Group on Governance and Efficiency (WGGE)’s Review of the composition of the Standing Committees of the Council,a Report of the Technical Co-operation Committee (TCC)’s Report of the Ad hoc Working Group on Technical Co-operation Programme Development, a Report on Technical Co-operation Programme Development and update of Administrative and Operational Services Costs (AOSC) income and expenditure for the year 2014 and the Revision of the ICAO Service Code.
On June 10, there was a briefing of the Council, during which industry representatives presented their comments on cooperation with ICAO. Presentations have been made by representatives of the most well-known industry organisations such as the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Civil Air Navigation Services Organization (CANSO), Airports Council International (ACI) and the International Coordinating Council of Aerospace Industries Associations (ICCAIA). During the meeting, Mr. Boubacar Djibo Director of the ICAO Air Transport Bureau informed the members of the Council on the economic development of air transport (including information concerning the results of the largest freight carriers, alliances, etc.). Further ACI and IATA presentations were held which concerned the current activities of the organizations and its cooperation with ICAO. The Vice-President of the ICCAIA gave a presentation on the state of world production in the airline industry. A representative of IATA furthermore discussed the issues of security levels, and the legislative framework for consumer rights, unruly passengers and climate change. Then, during the discussion the Council members asked questions regarding the expectations of further cooperation with ICAO. It was agreed that the cooperation must be effective. To ensure that effectiveness the Council's meetings are attended by a number of representatives of the aviation industry.
On 11th June the Second Meeting of the ICAO Council was held. The Vice President of the Council, coordinated a part of the meeting and an esteemed guest, Honourable Beyon Luc-Adolphe TIAO, Prime Minister and Head of Government from Burkina Faso has spoken. Mr. Beyon Luc-Adolphe TIAO, addressed the Council on his government’s commitment to aviation and ICAO’s work within the industry. He finished by wishing ICAO a successful 70th Anniversary Celebration. Before concluding the second meeting, the report on the outcome of the review by ICAO of the limits of liability under the Montreal Convention of 1999 were discussed as well as the report on the Diplomatic Conference in the draft Protocol to the Tokyo Convention of 1962.
On 12 June an informal briefing of the Council was held. Mr Iván Galán had a presentation on quality assurance mechanism for TA/TC projects. The Council members have been also briefed on the activities and safety developments of the ICAO Regional Offices: Asia Pacific Regional Office, Eastern and Southern African Regional Office, European and North Atlantic Office, Mid Regional Office, North American, Central American and Caribbean Regional Office, South American Regional Office and ICAO Western & Central African Region.
In the period from 12 to 14 June a three-day seminar at the Fairmont Chateau Montebello, Quebec was held. The Seminar was attended by members of the Council of ICAO, including Dr Małgorzata Polkowska, ICAO Regional Bureaus Directors, Angel Gittens, Director General of Airports Council International - World (ACI), Kevin Hyatt, Vice President of Safety and Flight Operation at the International Airport Transport Association (IATA), Hélène Gagnon, Public Affairs, Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility at Bombardier, together with other prominent individuals and experts from the aviation industry.
The aim of the seminar was to provide participants with issues related to communication within the ICAO (the Council and the Secretariat) and States and to provide current information on the state of the aviation industry. Presentations were submitted to the Council during the informal briefings prior to the seminar. The Directors of the ICAO Regional Bureaus presented to members of the Council the information on achievements of individual Bureaus on 12 June. Representatives of the industry made their presentations on the state of the aviation industry on June 10. The working groups have been established which will analyze the problems that were raised during these meetings. Discussions during the seminar focused on improving communication between countries, ICAO and its Regional Bureaus, which is done via State Letters and there was a discussion whether the answers from the States were sufficient, and how communication can be improved. After hearing the issues and the recommended solutions the participants decided that the results of the working groups will be consolidated in order to present final proposals for further action in the ICAO. The action plans for organizations describing how to improve communication are expected in the coming days.
On 16 June the third meeting of the Council of ICAO in the framework of the 202nd Session of the Council was held. Berfore the Council meeting the EU coordination meeting was held during which the issues which were planned to be subject of discussion during the second week of the Council Session were elaborated.
During the actual Council meeting, the Council members discussed documents relating to the aircraft equipment, a report on activities of the Relations with the Host Country Committee (RHCC), a report presenting results and recommendations formulated after a multidisciplinary meeting on the global flight tracking. Dr. Małgorzata Polkowska agreed with the recommendations for countries aiming at the organization of exercises in order to harmonize the activities of air operators, air navigation services providers and the SAR, she also supported the recommendation to work on improving the reliability and utility of ELT within the COSPAS-SARSAT program. She indicated that currently there is no requirement that aircraft operating flights over water areas shall be equipped with the EPIRBs, which are more suitable than ELT to work in the water and may remain on the surface. Further she indicated that the Commission Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 requires equipment life rafts in ELT, instead of EPIRB.
In addition, Dr Polkowska proposed that ICAO introduce a recommendation that in the event of an emergency of aircraft in flight, ELT transmitters shall be switched on by the air crew when aircraft is still in flight, because the COSPAS-SARSAT system is able to receive signals sent by the transmitter in motion and can determine its current/changing position.
Council members also discussed issues related to the organization of the High-Level Conference on Security, which will be held next year and the ICAO Policy Training of Civil Aviation. The Polish comments were forwarded to the Secretariat of ICAO. ICAO has ensured that the Polish suggestions will be considered.
The Council agreed on a proposal of some of the representatives concerning increasing the number of members of the Financial Committee from 17 to 20. In the other committess there were minor changes.
On 18 June there was a meeting of the Ad Hoc Working Group of the Transport Cooperation Committee (TCC WG). The group divided the work amongst each other with Brazil and Spain working on the issue of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Portugal assisting with regards to customer satisfaction survey. Dr. Polkowska raised the issue of availing guidance material to States on how to request projects from TCB. The members responded it would be best to raise this issue during the Technical Co-operation Committee meeting in September.
On June 19, a meeting of the Working Group on the Governance and Efficiency (WGGE) was held. Dr Małgorzata Polkowska participated in the meeting as an observer. During the meeting there were discussed issues related to the election of the Secretary-General in 2015 and the President of the ICAO Council in 2016. The Polish Representative raised an issue of the a transitional period, which could be incorporated into the contract for the new Secretary, without having to change the existing procedures of the Council, where it is mentioned that the transitional period shall be at least a five month period. She also informed the participants that according to UN policy the length of the transitional period cannot be longer than 5 months and less than a month, therefore, with the consent of the outgoing and ascending person to the position of Secretary General the transition period can be determined for example as three months without the need for changes in the procedures. The Polish position was supported by Argentina. During the last meeting of the Council (23 June) it was decided that the transitional period could be included in a State Letter directed to Member States in September with attached condtitions of appointment of the new Secretary General from 1 August 2015.
On 20 June took place the fifth meeting of the Council of ICAO preceded by the EU coordination meeting. At the beginning of the meeting the participants discussed a number of documents relating to the organization's financial issues, they also presented reports of the external auditor for the financial year of 2013 and a report on activities that generate income and financial forecasts and business plans for the years of 2014, 2015 and 2016.
Later in the meeting, the Council representatives discussed issues related to translation services in ICAO. Some of the representatives (from Russia, China, Chile) have recognized that there is a need to increase the number of translation services, especially during the panels. Germany and Japan stated that it was already too late to increase the number of translation services, which was supported by the Secretary General of ICAO, stating that the budget for the current triennial is already established. The Council members agreed that the proposal must be considered when determining the new budget. Then the documents related to the environmental protection in civil aviation were examined. The paper presented developments in ICAO, other UN agencies and international organizations in this field and it was in conjunction with the upcoming UN climate summit in New York, which will be held on 23 September, 2014. The summit will bring together United Nations Framework for Climate Change (UNFCC), Global Framework on Aviation Alternative Fuels (GFAAF). Also key tasks that will be undertaken were outlined and which are the aftermath of the Conference of the Parties (COP19), which took place in Warsaw in December 2013. A Report of the President of the Environmental Advisory Group (EAG) was also presented concerning the Group's operations after five meetings and the Steering Group of the Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP). Within the framework of ICAO activities in the field of environmental protection after needs notified during the 38th Session of the ICAO Assembly the participants were informed by the Secreatry General about the organization of the ICAO seminars on environmental and National Action Plans. Two of the seven planned seminars were held in April 2014 in Peru and Mexico. Seminars for the other regions will be organized on a regular basis. During the meeting the participants were informed that at the beginning of 2015 the seminar for the Middle East Region will be organized by the United Arab Emirates, while seminar for Europe and North America will be organized by Poland. The communications on that matter between the Civil Aviation Authority of the Republic of Poland and ICAO Secretariat has been already established.
On 23 June a coordination meeting of the EU was held. The main topic of discussion was the activity of the ECAC, meetings of the EAG and the Committees of the Council, as well as the communication and coordination between the ECAC and representatives of the EU Member States on the Council. Participants of the meeting agreed on the scope of discussion of this topic, which is to be discussed during the Special Meeting of Directors General of Civil Aviation (DGCA/63 (SP) from 28 August to 1 September 2014 in Dubrovnik.
On the same day the sixth - last meeting of the ICAO Council under the 202. Session was held. The Council considered a review of changes to the report concerning the 24th Meeting of the Panel on Dangerous Goods (DGP/24). While presenting the Report dr Polkowska drew attention to differences between the working paper and the supplement. The changes proposed by the Air Navigation Commission (ANC) allows the transport of small lithium batteries on aircraft. The document concluded that the batteries can be transported "if there are no other forms of transportation", while supplement 1 in Annex A to the documents does not contain this expression. Then a discussion on the membership of the committees of the Council was held. The discussion ended with the establishing the Chairmen of the Committees from the following countries:
Air Transport Committee (ATC) - Libya
Joint Support Committee (JSC) - Canada
The Finance Committee (FIC) - Australia
Unlawful Interference Committee (UIC) - United Kingdom
Technical Co-operation Committee (TCC) - Venezuela
Human Resources Committee - (HRC) - Tanzania
Relations with Host Country Committee (RHCC) - Burkina Faso
The Polish Permanent Representative on the Council of ICAO dr Małgorzata Polkowska continued to hold membership in the Air Transport Committee (ATC), the Technical Co-operation Committee (TCC) and the Edward Warner Award Committee (EWAC).
In addition, the partipants listened to the WGGE reports on committees and groups and improved communication between the Council, ICAO and the aviation industry. The President of the Council (Canada) noticed that further work is necessary in order to present the Action Plan for subsequent years. He added that the trip had a positive response by participants and it is planned to organize another trip for the same year.
At the end of the meeting, the Council heard an oral report by the President of the Council in regard of the arrangements for the celebration of the 70th Anniversary of the Chicago Convention. The President informed the Council that there will be two ceremonies - one in Montreal on 4 September 2014 and the second on 8 December 2014 in Chicago which will be held in the form of a special Session of the Council with the oppurtunity to make a speech. The Council meeting ended with a farewellof the former member of the Council from Japan.
The next 203rd Session (Committee Phase) will be held in September 2014
