Governing Air Traffic Management in the Single European Sky: the Search for Possible Solutions to Safety Issues

This article analyses the European system of air traffic management (ATM) as a specific case study of EU regulation of potentially catastrophic risks. The creation of the Single European Sky is a growing area of EU policy, which shows the potential and the difficulties of co-ordinating national competence, with the aim of boosting the efficiency of air transport in Europe. Given the direct impact of these policies on safety, answers to two main questions assist in the implementation of this regulation about what level of protection is appropriate against the risks of possible catastrophic impact, and who bears the risk if the delivered safety system fails. Precautionary safety standards and liability remedies are therefore addressed as the key issues of risk regulation.