EU-ASEAN Sustainable Connectivity Package – Aviation Partnership Project (SCOPE APP)

The EU-ASEAN Sustainable Connectivity Package (SCOPE) Aviation Partnership Project (APP) is funded by the European Union and implemented by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to improve connectivity and safe and sustainable air transport between the Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and between them and the European Union.

The specific objectives (expected outcomes) of the SCOPE APP are the following:

1. enhanced cooperation on civil aviation between the European Union, ASEAN Member States, and other relevant stakeholders;
2. improved civil aviation safety in the ASEAN region;
3. improved civil aviation environmental sustainability in the ASEAN region; and
4. strengthened resilience of civil aviation to shocks and disruptions in ASEAN Member States.

The SCOPE APP will support the ASEAN’s objectives in terms of:

• the Kuala Lumpur Transport Strategic Plan (KLTSP);
• the successor document of the KLTSP; 
• the ASEAN Air Navigation Service Master Plan; and
• the ASEAN Sustainable Aviation Action Plan. 

It will also facilitate cooperation under the ASEAN-EU Comprehensive Air Transport Agreement (AE-CATA) and the commitments made by ASEAN Member States in terms of the ICAO Asia Pacific Ministers’ Beijing Declaration and ICAO Asia Pacific Regional Aviation Safety Plan.

The main beneficiaries of the SCOPE APP will be the civil aviation authorities of the ASEAN Member States. The project will carry out regulatory comparison exercises, technical workshops and other capacity building activities. It will be a continuation and consolidation of three previous EU-funded projects implemented by the EASA in Southeast Asia:

• the ARISE+ Civil Aviation project (regional integration);
• the EU-SEA Aviation Partnership project (safety); and
• the EU-SEA CCCA CORSIA project (sustainability).

The SCOPE APP is part of the wider EU-ASEAN Sustainable Connectivity Package seeking to improve sustainable connectivity between the European Union and the ASEAN as well as within the ASEAN, in line with the respective EU and ASEAN connectivity strategies. The Package targets the following areas:

1. Trade, economic connectivity and sustainable value chains;
2. Transport;
3. Energy;
4. Digital; and
5. Higher education / people-to-people connectivity.

Context

The European Commission’s Directorate General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA) has tasked EASA through a new Contribution Agreement to set up an aviation partnership project, to improve connectivity and safe and sustainable air transport between the ASEAN Member States and between them and the European Union.

ASEAN has a combined population of approximately 622 million people or 8 % of the world's population. Air travel to, from, and within the region is projected to grow at an average annual growth rate of 7 % over the next 20 years, as passenger demand is stimulated by low-cost carriers, increasing investments, and a growing middle class. This brings opportunities but also challenges: operationally there are concerns over the capacity of Southeast Asia’s systems and infrastructure to cope with the current level of traffic growth. To enable the region to achieve its full potential, this growth must be underpinned by high standards of aviation safety, security, and environmental protection.

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