From 23 February to 13 March 2015 at the headquarters of the International Civil Aviation Organization in Montreal the second, so-called Council Phase of the 204. Session was held. At the beginning of each week during the session the coordination meetings of the EU were held. It was the next session of the Council with the participation of the Polish representative, who was one of 36 members of the Council – the governmental body of ICAO.
The first co-ordination meeting on 23 February started with a presentation of candidates for the Secretary-General post. The candidates from the United Arab Emirates, China, Australia and India presented their candidatures. The candidates answered the questions prepared for them by a specially appointed committee within the Council and approved by the President of the Council (the questions concerned in particular the planned employment in ICAO for the next three years, the position of D1/D2 based on geographical distribution, the budget for the years 2017-2019, an increase of the efficiency and transparency in the ICAO, the campaign "no country left behind", and the cooperation with the President of the Council and the Council itself. Additional question which have been asked by the members of the Council concerned regional cooperation and HR policies and ethics.
During the first meeting of the Council on 23 February the president announced a new representative on the Council from Republic of South Africa and then requested for a minute of silence to commemorate the king of Saudi Arabia. The first document discussed during the session was the annual report on the work of regional offices in the year 2014 and plans for 2015. This year's report comparing to the previous one the Council Members found as more professional and detailed, and it was stated that it included the recommendations from the Council to Secretariat, taking into account the strategic objectives of ICAO. Twice a year, the regional office directors meet by the Council and report on their achievements. Some Council members added that the plan should be harmonized (including conceptually. What more all the offices should prepare the plan (especially in terms of safety) in a similar way (including attachments). The Secretary-General announced that from the next year, these reports will have an unified form.
Then the participants of the meeting discussed a report on the implementation of the training techniques and future activities of the GAT (Global Aviation Training Office) as well as the summary after one year of activity of the office. The GAT office is responsible for the planning, management and coordination of all ICAO training activities in order to ensure effective and harmonized implementation of Training Techniques in response to the needs of Member States, international and regional organizations and the industry. The GAT consists of three divisions: TRAINAIR PLUS PROGRAMME (TPP), Training Design and Development (TDD) and Assessments Training and Consultancy (TAC). This report was adopted by the Council members. It was pointed out that the majority of training concerns the implementation of ICAO SARPs. ICAO plans to conduct these courses on-line. Some Council members asked for the information on the revenue of ICAO training. The analyzes in that matter will be prepared and distributed to the Financial Committee.
After that the participants of the meeting reviewed the document on the amendments to the regulations of the DOC 7231. Great importance in the document is devoted to electronic publications, which will replace the paper form, so far mainly used in the ICAO. This also applies to the distribution of State Letters and Electronic Bulletins. Further changes in the regulations will apply to the protection of intellectual property rights and will be forwarded to the Council of ICAO. These issues will also be the subject of the deliberations of the WGGE. The report on the work of the Group will be presented at the next session of the Council. On February 24, a meeting of the HRC Committee, was held during which the participants discussed the document "Charter Letter from the President of the Council on behalf on the Council to the Secretary General". Representatives in the Council discussed proposals for future duties of the Secretary General. On February 25 was held the next meeting of the Council. Participants discussed the documents relating to the security issues. One of the documents presented orally by the Secretary General related to change 14 to Annex 17. The responses were obtained from 53 countries and one SAR. 44 States and one SAR have reported a lack of exemptions and pointed to compliance in this area (including Poland). The differences were indicated in 9 countries (it is less than in 2013 when the differences concerning the amendment 13 were reported by 16 countries). Amendment 14 relates to international cooperation for the periodic training of personnel and supervision of subcontractors regarding external services, security screening of cargo and cooperation in the field landside security. In most cases, when the differences were found, the countries indicated their intention to adapt to June 2016. Publication of an amendment 14 was accompanied by the release of the English version of (IX) Aviation Security Manual (Doc 8973/9). Some representatives suggested that the information on amendments of Annexes to the Convention shall be passed by the regional offices themselves. That suggestion was upheld by the Secretary-General.
In the next order the report on the implementation and development of technical cooperation program. The ICAO provides the support to the States and regional organizations, and industries within the "ICAO Aviation Security Assistance and Capacity Building Strategy". The document was adopted without discussion. Council President announced that during the next session, ICAO will organize an information meeting concerning the ICAO "no country left behind" program. The Secretariat assured that for the most countries which need assistance the training in aviation security is free of charge.
Then representatives discussed a report on the development of technical cooperation. The report stated that the American region has the highest percentage of delivered projects (75.4%), while the region of Europe and the Middle East - 12.5%, Africa - 9.3% and Asia-Pacific - 2.8%. Technical Cooperation Bureau was involved in 106 projects, including one implementation of the technical assistance project in Madagascar, which was sponsored by the ICAO Safety Fund. The program was attended by about 220 international and 761 national experts. More than 5 thousand people has been trained (in 2013- 3799). During the last meeting of the Technical Cooperation Committee (TCC), the committee members were informed about the progress of the ICAO Technical Cooperation Bureau in negotiations with McGill University to conduct a survey of customer satisfaction in the ICAO technical projects (one of the representatives of the Council requested a questionnaire by e-mail). The Committee recommended that the report of the work on the implementation of the survey will be presented at the summer session of the Council, and the results of the survey in the fall of this year. In the future, the matters involving third parties by agreement for ICAO will be studied by the Evaluation and Internal Audit Office.
The report was supported by the Representatives of the Council. It was noted that the a small number of projects in the field of technical support of ICAO was being proceeded.The representative of TCB committed to provide In the next report more information about the projects on which ICAO is currently working on. What more the Council members asked for a list of projects from different regions. The Secretary General mentioned that prioritization is necessary as to which State the help shall be directed in the first place (the lists are usually very long). He pointed out that the ICAO frequently helps donor countries to select the State with needs in certain areas.
On 25 February a morning meeting of the committee WGGE was held, during which the work program of work for the next session was discussed and there were raised the topic on the formulation of a general policy of ICAO. Poland has proposed its participation in the preparation of this document (although it does not belong to WGGE). On March 13 the group has been formulated under the leadership of Nigeria with the participation of members from Bolivia, France, Nigeria, Poland, Saudi Arabia and Singapore.
On February 27 another meeting of the Council was held, which began with the presentation of the report of 2014 activities of the internal auditor (EDA). The annexes to the report were long-term recommendations, for which the deadline for implementation was set before 1 July 2014. The report has been fully accepted. Further documents related to finance of the organization, including document proposing changes to the regulations related to the resale of 11.4 movable property were presented. Then President of the financial committee (FIC) presented the reports of the auditor (EDA), which were published on the website of ICAO Council. During the discussion, the idea came to audit the spending of funds, in order to ensure full transparency of spending. The most important fact that the fund allocated as SAFETY shall be spend just for this purpose. There has been decided to raise these issues at the next meeting of the FIC. The Secretariat also asked to monitor the behavior of staff and pass the information on motivation of employees. According to the information obtained, these indicators are difficult to determine, and it is the time-consuming process. Then the members of the Council, adopted the financial documents.
On 2 March another meeting of the Council in the context of the so-called safety week was held. The report of Secretary-General on the outcomes of the High Level Safety Conference (HLSC) was presented. The conference brought together 714 participants from 120 countries and observers from 35 international organizations. At the end of the conference there were formulated a number of recommendations, including those regarding the tracking of aircraft flight paths that which may be adapted this year (to take effect next year). HLSC furthermore considered that ICAO should address the issue of integration of RPAS in civil airspace. The declaration called. "The Montreal Declaration on Aviation Safety Planning for Improvement" adopted at the conference is available to the public on the website of the ICAO. Council members stressed out the need to quickly translate the text of the declaration in the languages of ICAO. The members of the Council of ICAO also thanked for the efficient organization of the conference. The Secretary General has established, inter alia, to the emerging system of exchange of information in an emergency situation by armed conflict.
Council asked the Secretariat to forward the draft procedure on a mechanism for approval. The Secretary announced that the State Letter on the mechanism will soon be forwarded to the Member States, including asking to appoint a focal point chances in each country for contacts with ICAO.
Information exchange mechanism began to operate from 2 April. There is a possibility of upgrading the mechanism for a year. Link to the system is located on the ICAO website.
Another document discussed at the meeting was the report on the program USOAP CMA, which was introduced in 2011-2012. The presentation of the document presented the President of the Air Navigation Commission (ANC). The Polish delegation asked for clarification on the time needed for the implementation of the SSP for countries that have reached over 60% compliance. Representative of the ANC responded that the level of Effective Implementation (using the new Protocol Questions from Annex 19), as set out in the document, it should be available by the end of 2016. After this date, Member States shall send the information to the ICAO in order to identify new levels of EI . From January 2016, ICAO will be able to carry out audits of states above the level of 60% of EI.
Another discussed document concerned the changes 12 to ICAO Annex 18 (The Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air). The changes included the establishment of the SMS and the carriage of mail by air. At the end of the session there was a discussion on the lack of funds for training the ICAO regional inspectors. The Secretary-General pointed out that ICAO was considering the form of the so-called CBT (Computer Based Training), and assured that the state's most needy are provided with free training.
Meeting on 4 March 2015 related to changes 12 (special procedures) in Annex 14, Volume I (Airports). Poland has raised no objections to the content of the attachment and it was adopted as amended. France asked for an extension of the date of entry into force (of the year), the proposal was accepted (regulations will come into force in 2016.). Subsequent requests documents related to several organizations that their representatives are able to participate in certain meetings of ICAO. The next document discussed at the meeting was the program of the Air Navigation Commission (ANC) for the 199. Session of the Commission. The program has been adopted. At the end of the meeting the Director of the Air Navigation Bureau (ANB) Ms. Nancy Graham departing from the post, which will replace Mr. Stephen Creamer of the USA, summarized the activities Bureau for security, organization of seminars on the unmanned aerial vehicle (rpas) and the space law, publishing of the new textbooks including modern electronic tools (e-kits), technical amendments to the Annexes and PANS. Ms. Graham also presented the structure of the ANC and the need for more posts, in connection with the recommendations of the HLSC conference and new challenges for the ICAO (including the mechanism for the exchange of information in areas with risks of armed conflicts or RPAS). Then the President of the Council thanked the Ms. Nancy Graham for her work for the ICAO. The gratitude for the many years of service was also stated on behalf of the Organization by the Council members.
The morning session on March 6, began with a speech by the Council Representative from Kenya, who on behalf of all six women in the Council gave a speech about the increasing role and importance of women in aviation. After the speech, the representative of Portugal added attention to the need to continue the program of young people in aviation with the participation of students. The representative of the United Arab Emirates announced the creation of aviation support program for women in Africa and Latin America.
The session started with a discussion of the environmental document describing recent and future ICAO actions in this regard. Information on CAEP actions and within non-ICAO UN agencies are provided in separate documents (e. g. meeting COP20 - United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change - UNFCCC in Lima). All documents relating to the environment have been accepted by the Council.
Another document submitted for approval to the Council was the draft of Charter letter from the President of the Council, on behalf of the Council, to the Secretary General. For the preparation of this document, the HRC Committee previously established a working group which was responsible for its creation. This document will be forwarded to the new Secretary General in order to inform him about the expectations from the Council in order to conduct the management of the Secretariat. The Council accepted the document, but some representatives made a few remarks that the document is too much detailed (the same opinion has been shared by the Polish representative at the meeting of the HRC Committee, which she attended as an observer and during the Council meeting when this opinion has been confirmed in the wake of other representatives).
The session ended with a discussion on the ethics officer's annual report for the year 2014. The report included recommendations reported earlier at the meetings of the Council relating to, inter alia, EO responsibility for the problem of conflict of interest, and the promotion of training, communication and development policy on ethics related thereto, and policies of the organization for the protection of personnel against retaliatory measures. Some representatives noted the progress in the field of auditing. The document was finally approved.
On 9 March Secretary General referred to the proposed by ICAO Member information exchange mechanism in the event of armed conflict in the territory of one of them. The mechanism was approved by the Council of Representatives, including Poland. Later in the meeting, Chairman of the Environmental Advisory Group (EAG) presented a brief report on the work of informing about planned in April, several GLADs meetings (in Lima, Singapore and Madrid), asking the representatives for the information to be provided in their own States. The report of the meetings will be presented to the Council on the next 205. Session. EAG next meeting is scheduled for the end of May. The session ended with a discussion on the report of the RHCC committee, approved by the Council (document also indicated a change of ICAO address which has been changed on March 15 from University Street to Robert-Bourassa Street).
On 11 March this year the elections for the Secretary General of ICAO were held. The President presented the document and the candidates who have applied for the position in response to the State Letter of 30 September 2014. The procedure for election of the Secretary General indicates that the vote is secret-ballot. In the first ballot, the candidate with the UAE obtained11 votes, China 19 votes, the candidate from Australia 4 votes and from India 2 votes. Thus ended up winning the election candidates from China (Dr. Fang Liu). After the announcement of the results of the President congratulated the new Secretary General. Dr. Fang Liu thanked for her appointment and assured the Council members on future fruitful cooperation.
After the election, the President ordered the Council to discuss the work program for the 205. Session. The program contained a number of informal briefings for members of the Council concerning, inter alia, GLADs and the campaign "no country left behind". The program has been accepted. When discussing the program, there was a question about the election of a new Director of the Administrative Office (ADB), whose duties conducted Dr. Fang Liu. The President announced that the Council will make the selection and the result will be announced at the session in June.
At the Council meeting on March 12, a representative of the ANB submitted his report on the work of the so-called small group set up to develop a new operating procedures elaborated mechanism for exchanging information in an emergency situation by armed conflict (Conflict Zone Information Repository). In the work of the group participated Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Japan, Russia, Spain, Saudi Arabia, UK and USA. Projects developed procedure were continuously transmitted to the members of the Council. Representatives of the Council thanked the Secretariat for trying to find a consensus, but ultimately decided to accept the version of the original procedure. At the end of the discussion, questions arose as to the President of the effect of the new monitoring group. The President explained that its Secretary will become the representative of the Air Navigation Bureau (ANB), and the group will report to the Council on its activities during the so-called safety week of the Council. Each Member State will be able to submit comments for consideration by the group. Group meetings will be held also between sessions. In conclusion, the President of the ICAO Council thanked the representatives from Korea and Chile who ended the work in the Council and thanked all the participants for the difficult but fruitful session.
