(1)

Pursuant to Article 11 of Regulation (EC) No 549/2004, Member States are to draw up plans, either at national level or at the level of functional airspace blocks (‘FABs’), including performance targets, for each reference period of the performance and charging scheme for air navigation services and network functions. Those plans are to include local performance targets which are consistent with the Union-wide performance targets for the reference period concerned.

(2)

The Union-wide performance targets for the fourth reference period (‘RP4’, 2025-2029) were set out in Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2024/1688 (4).

(3)

All Member States have drawn up and adopted draft performance plans for RP4, which were submitted to the Commission for assessment by 1 October 2024. Following the verification of completeness of those draft performance plans, the Commission requested Member States to submit updated draft performance plans by 15 November 2024.

(4)

The Commission’s assessment presented in this Decision is based on the updated draft performance plan for RP4 submitted by Bulgaria (‘the draft performance plan’).

(5)

The Performance Review Body (‘PRB’), assisting the Commission in the implementation of the performance scheme, has submitted to the Commission a report containing its advice on the assessment of the draft performance plans.

(6)

In accordance with Article 14(1) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/317, the Commission has assessed the consistency of the local performance targets included in the draft performance plan on the basis of the criteria laid down in point 1 of Annex IV to that Implementing Regulation, and taking account of local circumstances where relevant.

(7)

The Commission has complemented its assessment of the draft performance plan with a review of the elements set out in point 2 of Annex IV to that Implementing Regulation. In respect of point 2.1(d)(vii) of Annex IV to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/317, the Commission notes that it has not conducted, as part of that review, a detailed analysis of the methodology used by Bulgaria for the allocation of costs between en route and terminal services in RP4. Therefore, the Commission has not drawn any conclusions, at this stage, in respect of the compliance of that cost allocation methodology with points (e) and (f) of Article 15(2) Regulation (EC) No 550/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council (5) and Article 22(5) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/317.

(8)

As regards the key performance area of safety, the consistency of the targets included in the draft performance plan has been assessed in accordance with point 1.1 of Annex IV to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/317.

(9)

The performance targets in the key performance area of safety proposed by Bulgaria in respect of the effectiveness of safety management, broken down per safety management objective and expressed as a level of implementation, are as follows:

(10)

The Commission has found that the safety performance targets proposed by Bulgaria for the air navigation service provider ‘BULATSA’ are equal to the Union-wide safety targets for each calendar year from 2026 for three of the safety management objectives, whilst the for the ‘safety assurance’ and the ‘safety risk management’ objectives the Union-wide safety targets are met from 2027 and 2029 respectively.

(11)

The Commission notes that the draft performance plan sets out measures for BULATSA for the achievement of the local safety targets, including the further development of the safety management system in terms of safety culture principles, technological solutions, fatigue and stress management, safety risk management, and safety assurance processes.

(12)

On the basis of the findings set out in recitals (9), (10) and (11), and considering that the Union-wide safety performance targets set in Implementing Decision (EU) 2024/1688 are to be achieved by the final year of RP4, that is, 2029, the local safety performance targets included in the draft performance plan should be considered consistent with the Union-wide performance targets.

(13)

As regards the key performance area of environment, the consistency of the targets included in the draft performance plan regarding the average horizontal en route flight efficiency of the actual trajectory has been assessed based on the criterion laid down in point 1.2 of Annex IV to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/317. Accordingly, the proposed environment targets of Bulgaria have been compared to the relevant en route horizontal flight efficiency reference values set out in the European Route Network Improvement Plan (‘ERNIP’), drawn up in accordance with Annex I to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/123 (6) and available at the time of adopting the Union-wide performance targets for RP4, that is on 2 July 2024.

(14)

The environment performance targets proposed by Bulgaria for RP4 and the corresponding national reference values from the ERNIP, expressed as the average horizontal en route flight efficiency of the actual trajectory, are as follows:

(15)

The Commission observes that the environment targets proposed by Bulgaria are equal to the corresponding national reference values for each calendar year of RP4.

(16)

The Commission notes that Bulgaria has presented in the draft performance plan measures for the achievement of the local environment targets which include initiatives to minimise flight extensions at off-peak periods, the expansion of free route airspace, the prevention of flight re-routings by maintaining adequate airspace capacity, and the increased digitalisation of service provision. Having regard to the findings of the PRB, the Commission considers that Bulgaria should commit to the implementation of all the operational measures set out in the ERNIP, in order to support the achievement of its environment performance targets for RP4.

(17)

On the basis of the findings set out in recitals (14), (15) and (16), the targets in the key performance area of environment included in the draft performance plan of Bulgaria should be considered consistent with the Union-wide performance targets for RP4.

(18)

As regards the key performance area of capacity, the consistency of the targets included in the draft performance plan regarding the average en route air traffic flow management (‘ATFM’) delay per flight has been assessed based on the criterion laid down in point 1.3 of Annex IV to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/317. Accordingly, the proposed capacity targets of Bulgaria have been compared to the relevant reference values set out in the Network Operations Plan drawn up in accordance with Article 9 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/123 and available at the time of adopting the Union-wide performance targets for RP4, that is on 2 July 2024.

(19)

The en route capacity targets proposed by Bulgaria for RP4, expressed in minutes of ATFM delay per flight, and the corresponding reference values from the Network Operations Plan, are as follows:

(20)

The Commission observes that the capacity targets proposed by Bulgaria are equal to the corresponding national reference values for each calendar year of RP4.

(21)

The Commission notes that Bulgaria has presented, in the draft performance plan, measures for the achievement of the local en route capacity targets. Those measures include the reorganisation of airspace structures, the availability of additional sectors, rising from 18 to 24, in the airspace under the responsibility of Sofia’s area control centre, and an increased number of full-time air traffic controllers in operations.

(22)

On the basis of the findings set out in recitals (19) to (21), the targets in the key performance area of capacity included in the draft performance plan of Bulgaria should be considered consistent with the Union-wide performance targets for RP4.

(23)

As regards the key performance area of cost-efficiency, the consistency of the targets included in the draft performance plan regarding the determined unit cost (‘DUC’) for en route air navigation services has been assessed based on the criteria laid down in points 1.4(a), (b) and (c) of Annex IV to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/317. Those criteria consist of the DUC trend over RP4, the long-term DUC trend over RP3 and RP4 (2020-2029), and the baseline value for the DUC at charging zone level compared with the average value of the charging zones where air navigation service providers have a similar operational and economic environment.

(24)

The en route cost-efficiency targets proposed by Bulgaria for RP4, and the related baseline values, are as follows:

(25)

Concerning the assessment criterion set out in point 1.4(a) of Annex IV to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/317, the Commission observes that Bulgaria’s DUC trend at charging zone level of +2,5 % over RP4 underperforms the Union-wide trend of -1,2 % over the same period.

(26)

Concerning the assessment criterion set out in point 1.4(b) of Annex IV to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/317, the Commission observes that Bulgaria’s long-term DUC trend at charging zone level over RP3 and RP4 of -1,0 % is in line with the long-term Union-wide trend of -1,0 % over the same period.

(27)

Concerning the assessment criterion set out in point 1.4(c) of Annex IV to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/317, the Commission observes that Bulgaria’s baseline value for the DUC of EUR 25,92 in real terms at 2022 prices (‘EUR2022’) is 36,9 % lower than the average baseline value of EUR 41,05 in EUR2022 of the relevant comparator group set out in Article 7 Implementing Decision (EU) 2024/1688.

(28)

It is clear that Bulgaria’s long-term DUC trend over RP3 and RP4 is in line with the corresponding Union-wide trend and that Bulgaria’s baseline value for 2024 is significantly below the comparator group average. Therefore, the Commission considers that the deviation from the Union-wide DUC trend for RP4 referred to in recital (25) does not preclude Bulgaria’s cost-efficiency performance targets from being consistent with the Union-wide cost-efficiency performance targets.

(29)

On the basis of the findings set out in recitals (24) to (28), the targets in the key performance area of cost-efficiency included in the draft performance plan should be considered consistent with the Union-wide performance targets for RP4.

(30)

In the light of the foregoing, the performance targets included in the draft performance plan of Bulgaria should be considered consistent with the Union-wide performance targets for RP4,