SESAR JU CONSOLIDATED ANNUAL ACTIVITY REPORT 2020 Abstract This Consolidated Annual Activity Report, established on the guidelines set forth in Communication from the Commission ref. 2020/2297, provides comprehensive information on the implementation of the agency work programme, budget, staff policy plan, and management and internal control systems in 2020. © SESAR Joint Undertaking, 2021 Reproduction of text is authorised, provided the source is acknowledged. For any use or reproduction of photos, illustrations or artworks, permission must be sought directly from the copyright holders. COPYRIGHT OF IMAGES © Airbus S.A.S. 2021, page 50; © Alexa Mat/Shutterstock.com, page 209; © Alexandra Lande/Shutterstock.com, page 215; © AlexLMX/Shutterstock.com page 177; © chainarong06/Shutterstock.com, page 220; © DG Stock/ Shutterstock.com, cover; © Diana Opryshko page 155; © Dmitry Kalinovsky/Shutterstock.com, page 56; © iStock. com/Gordon Tipene, pages 189 and 194; © iStock.com/Nordroden, page 12; © iStock.com/sharply_done, page 209; © iStock.com/sharply_done, page 18; © iStock.com/stellalevi, page 228, © lassedesignen/Shutterstock.com, page 70 © Mario Hagen/Shutterstock.com, pages 36 and 130; © Michael Penner, page 130; © NickolayV/Shutterstock. com, page 77; © Sergey Peterman/Shutterstock.com, page 10; © SESAR JU, pages 9, 15, 16, 17, 48, 49, 55,79, 86, 102,132, 134, 145, 147, 148 and 190; © SFIO CRACHO/Shutterstock.com, pages 181 and 213; © Skycolors/ Shutterstock.com, page 40; © smolaw/Shutterstock.com, page 211; © Thiago B Trevisan/Shutterstock.com, page 136; © This Is Me/Shutterstock.com, page 175; © VLADGRIN/Shutterstock.com, page 191; © Limare/Shutterstock, page 193; © Photo by Chris Smith on Unsplash, page 227 © Photo by Julien Bessede on Unsplash, page 224 © Photo by Sacha Verheij on Unsplash, page 221 © yuttana Contributor Studio/Shutterstock.com, page 66. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2021 Print ISBN 978-92-9216-169-9 ISSN 2467-4125 doi:10.2829/207087 MG-AF-21-001-EN-C PDF ISBN 978-92-9216-168-2 ISSN 2467-4133 doi:10.2829/215781 MG-AF-21-001-EN-N Contents Foreword ...................................................................................................................6 Innovating air traffic management in times of unprecedented uncertainty .............................6 Administrative Board’s analysis and assessment .................................................8 Executive summary ................................................................................................10 The SESAR JU in a nutshell .................................................................................................11 The year in brief .................................................................................................................12 Part I. Achievements of 2020 .......................................................................... 16 1.1. Context and reference for the overall achievements of the year ................................ 21 1.1.1. Overview of calls and grants up to 2020 ................................................................21 1.1.2. The innovation pipeline in practice (2015–2020)....................................................25 1.2. Strategic area of operation 1: provision of strategic steering to the SESAR programme ....................................................................................................................... 36 1.2.1. Contributions of transversal steering projects .....................................................36 1.2.2. Preparing for the future of air traffic management research: the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda .........................................................................41 1.2.3. Outcomes from the governance bodies .................................................................45 1.3. Strategic area of operation 2: delivery of exploratory research ................................ 51 1.3.1. Status of exploratory research 2 call on RPAS (H2020-SESAR-2016-1) ..............52 1.3.2. Status of exploratory research 3 call (within call reference H2020- SESAR-2016-2) .......................................................................................................55 1.3.3. Status of exploratory research 4 call (with reference H2020-SESAR-2019-2) ....56 1.3.4. Other exploratory research activities ....................................................................78 1.4. Strategic area of operation 3: delivery industrial research and validation ............... 82 1.4.1. Completion of SESAR 2020 Wave 1 industrial research and validation projects (call H2020-SESAR-2015-2) ...................................................................................83 1.4.2. Status of IR projects under the Wave 2 call (H2020-SESAR-2019-1) ...................87 1.4.3. Status of the Wave 3 call (H2020-SESAR-2020-2)...............................................103 1.4.4. SESAR Solutions delivery: the release process in 2020 ......................................105 1.5. Strategic area of operation 4: delivery of very large‑scale demonstration activities ... 132 1.5.1. Activities carried out under the Horizon 2020 framework ..................................132 1.5.2. Activities carried out under other financial frameworks: status of the U-space call (CEF-SESAR-2018-1) .....................................................................................147 1.6. Strategic area of operation 5: delivery of SESAR Outreach ....................................... 159 1.6.1. Cooperation with third countries and international organisations ....................159 1.6.2. Stakeholder engagement .....................................................................................161 1.6.3. Communications ..................................................................................................167 1 1.7. Strategic area of operation 6 (transversal activity): delivery of effective financial, administrative and corporate management ................................................................ 176 1.7.1. Implementation of calls for proposals and grant management framework .....177 1.7.2. Financial management ........................................................................................178 1.7.3. Human resources management ..........................................................................179 1.7.4. Legal support to operations .................................................................................180 1.7.5. Procurement activities .........................................................................................181 1.7.6. Corporate planning and reporting .......................................................................182 1.7.7. Internal control, risk management and audit .....................................................185 1.7.8. Information and communication technologies management ............................188 1.7.9. Facilities management .........................................................................................188 1.7.10. Travel coordination ...............................................................................................189 1.7.11. Data protection .....................................................................................................190 1.7.12. Participation in support and coordination groups in 2020 ..................................191 1.8. Overall risk level ............................................................................................................ 192 Part IIa. Management evaluation .................................................................. 194 2.1. Administrative Board ..................................................................................................... 195 2.2. Major developments: facing the COVID‑19 crisis ........................................................ 196 2.3. Budgetary and financial management ......................................................................... 197 2.3.1. Annual budget for 2020 ........................................................................................197 2.3.2. Implementation of the budget for 2020 ...............................................................199 2.3.3. SESAR 2020 multiannual budget execution ........................................................205 2.3.4. Financial closure of the SESAR 1 programme ....................................................207 2.3.5. In-kind contributions for the SESAR 2020 programme ......................................208 2.3.6. Budget out-turn ....................................................................................................209 2.3.7. Budget implementation allocation by area of operation.....................................211 2.4. Delegation and subdelegation....................................................................................... 212 2.5. Human resources management .................................................................................... 213 2.6. Strategy for efficiency gains ......................................................................................... 214 2.7. Assessment of audit and ex post evaluation results during the reporting year ...... 215 2.7.1. Internal Audit Service ...........................................................................................215 2.7.2. Internal Audit Capability ......................................................................................217 2.7.3. European Court of Auditors