The first day of the 70th special meeting of Ecac directors general, European Civil Aviation Conference, has been defined as "fruitful". The meeting, held in Tirana in Albania from August 25 to 28, was opened by the Albanian Minister of Infrastructure and Energy, Belinda Balluku, who discussed with the authorities present on a series of topics of common interest regarding European air traffic. The meeting was organized and coordinated by Alessio Quaranta, general manager of ENAC, the Italian civil aviation body, and president of Ecac, freshly appointed (unanimously) to the top of the organization he has been leading since last July, after taking over from the Swedish Ingrid Cherfils, who has played this delicate role for two terms, from 2015 to today.

The meeting led to the signing of a cooperation agreement between Ecac and Icao, the International Civil Aviation Organization, an autonomous agency of the United Nations in charge of developing the principles and techniques of international air navigation. The signature on the agreement was affixed by Alessio Quaranta, representing Ecac, and by Juan Carlos Salazar, Icao secretary general. 

"From now on, Europe is closer to the rest of the world -underlines Quaranta after the signing of the agreement- Finally back in attendance for the relaunch of European air transport".

ICAO is a specialized agency of the UN, made up of 190 States and created in 1944 through an international convention ratified by the member States: one of the organism's strategic objectives is environmental protection.

ECAC is an intergovernmental body founded in 1955 that brings together 44 member countries: its mission is to promote the European air transport system in a safe, efficient and sustainable way and to harmonize policies in the civil aviation sector among the member States. The 44 ECAC civil aviation directors-general meet at regular intervals, typically three times a year, to review, discuss and resolve political issues.