The European Commission on Monday said it is committed to a "complete modernization of Europe's air traffic control system by 2020, delivering the Single European Sky ... and the completion of the European Common Aviation Area of 58 countries and 1 billion inhabitants by 2020". The statements are part of the EC's transport white paper, "Transport 2050 Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area", which outlines a comprehensive plan for a more competitive and efficient transport system in Europe while reducing carbon dioxide emissions in transport 60% by 2050.

"The widely held belief that you need to cut mobility to fight climate change is simply not true," said EC VP-Transport Siim Kallas. "Competitive transport systems are vital for Europe's ability to compete in the world, for economic growth, job creation and for peoples' everyday quality of life. Curbing mobility is not an option, neither is business as usual. We can break the transport system's dependence on oil without sacrificing its efficiency and compromising mobility. It can be win-win."

"Transport 2050" encompasses concrete goals and proposals for all types of transport, such as raising low-CO2 sustainable fuels in aviation "to reach 40% by 2050", tripling the length of the high-speed rail network by 2030, and shifting the majority of medium-distance passenger transport to rail by 2050. It will also establish a "fully functioning" multi-modal transport system which it said requires removing bottlenecks and barriers in other parts of the network, namely with an airport package to improve the efficiency and capacity of airports. Concrete proposals on the airport package are expected this year.

"Transport 2050" said that improving the efficiency of aircraft and traffic management operations has to be pursued in the air sector and "attention is needed to avoid imposing excessive burdens on EU operations, which could compromise the EU role as 'global aviation hub'. Airport capacity needs to be optimized and, where necessary, [increased] to meet fast-growing demand for travel to and from third countries and areas of Europe otherwise poorly connected, which could result in a more than doubling of EU air transport activities by 2050, it said. In other cases, (high-speed) rail should absorb much medium-distance traffic. The EU aviation industry should become a frontrunner in the use of low-carbon fuels to reach the 2050 target."

The European Regions Airline Assn. broadly welcomed the EC's transport white paper but warned that implementing future policies should not incur further taxes or cost burdens on air transport and said that multi-modal transport network should be based "on providing free choice to consumers and fair, competitive conditions between transport modes. The traffic share of each mode should therefore be determined by the market and not commission policy."

"Improved intermodality will provide better mobility but it will not solve the airport capacity crunch," Airports Council International-Europe Director General Olivier Jankovec commented. "Independent forecasts clearly indicate that demand for aviation in Europe will nearly double by 2030. They also warn that the extensive rail developments announced will only absorb 0.5% of the total demand for air transport. Given the ever-increasing difficulties and uncertainties that Europe's airports face in seeking expansion approvals, the blunt reality of unprecedented congestion will sneak up on us very quickly. Europe's airports need their license to grow."