Staff working document to launch the co-creation process
In July 2023, the Commission published the staff working document ‘For a resilient, sustainable and digital aerospace and defence industrial ecosystem: Scenarios for a transition pathway’ to initiate the co-creation process. The staff working document listed possible areas of action and measures to support the green and digital transitions as well as the resilience of the aerospace and defence ecosystem.
On- line stakeholders consultation
On the basis of the staff working document, an online public consultation was conducted from 26 July to 3 November 2023. Stakeholders were invited to reflect and provide an assessment of scale, cost, long-term benefit of the possible areas of actions, commitments and investments to accompany the transition. The responses received provided an overview of existing challenges and emphasised key areas for action to be included the pathway.
Following the consultation, it was decided that the transition for the Defence industry part of the ecosystem would be covered by the European Defence Industrial Strategy, planned for Commission adoption on 26 February 2024.
The transition pathway document will therefore concern the Aerospace part of the ecosystem
Co-creation process
To complement the results of the public consultation, the Commission organized four thematic workshops with stakeholders on the following topics:
- resilience and capacity to act during war and crises,
- green transition,
- digitalization,
- competitiveness and access to resources.
The summary report of the thematic workshops can be consulted here
A final workshop was organized on 17 November 2023 with the Commission expert group on Policies & Programmes relevant to EU Space, Defence and Aeronautics Industry (SDA), based on the results of consultations until then.
Publication of the Aerospace transition pathway
The co-creation process will lead to the publication of a transition pathway policy report for the aerospace ecosystem. The transition pathway will contain main parameters for the ecosystem’s modernisation and transformation towards a more sustainable, digital and resilient ecosystem. The publication of the policy report will also initiate the co-implementation phase.
Co-implementation of the Aerospace transition pathway
The co-implementation phase will follow the co-creation process. The European Commission will encourage, collect and support public and private stakeholders’ commitments and concrete actions to make the aerospace ecosystem greener, more digital and more resilient.