The SESAR Joint Undertaking, in partnership with the EU Delegation to the United States, held a highly successful one-day conference in Washington DC on 25 June 2013. The event attracted a high-level audience of 90 people, including representatives of the US and EU Governments, ICAO, and industry from both sides of the Atlantic.

The event was opened by the EU Ambassador to the United States, João Vale de Almeida. The Ambassador underlined the importance the EU places on its bilateral cooperation with the US in the field of SESAR/NextGen interoperability, and placed it in the wider context of a deepening EU-US relationship as the two sides prepare to embark on formal negotiations on a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. In his Keynote address, the FAA Administrator, Michael Huerta, echoed these themes. He referred to the EU-US relationship as “an essential part of global modernization”, and said “our advancements together are a model for the rest of the world on how collaboration can work, with a common vision”.

Patrick Ky gave an overview of the SESAR programme, emphasising the progress being made as Europe moves towards initial deployment. Four key SESAR projects were highlighted with presentations by Pierre Bachelier (Airbus) on I4D Trajectory operations, Adrian Clarke (NATS) on AMAN/E-AMAN, Michael Standar (SJU) on Data Communications, and Tim Hardy (Heathrow) on Airport and Network operations. The event concluded with two roundtable sessions on interoperability, with representatives of industry, airspace users, controllers and regulators discussing the prospects and challenges as Europe and the U.S. move forward with SESAR and NextGen respectively

The conference was part of the EU Delegation to the United States' EU Rendez-Vous series, which strengthens the enduring relationship between the United States, the European Union, and the EU's Member States through candid and vibrant debates about the critical issues facing the transatlantic relationship today.