23.11.2011 Official Journal of the European Union L 305/23 COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) No 1206/2011 of 22 November 2011 laying down requirements on aircraft identification for surveillance for the single European sky (Text with EEA relevance) THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning the European Union, Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 552/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 March 2004 on the inter- operability of the European Air traffic Management Network (the interoperability —Regulation) (') and in particular Article 3(5) thereof, Whereas: (1)  The Commission has issued a mandate to Eurocontrol in accordance with Article 8(1) of Regulation (EC) No 549/2004 of the European Parliament and the Council of 10 March 2004 laying down the framework for the creation of the single European sky (the framework Regu- lation) (%) to develop requirements for the performance and the interoperability of surveillance within the European air traffic management network (EATMN). This Regulation is based on the resulting mandate report of 9 July 2010. (2)  Individual aircraft identification should be established in accordance with the International Civil Aviation Organi- sation (ICAO) procedures before air traffic services using a surveillance system are provided for the aircraft. (3)  Seamless operations dependon the unambiguous and continuous identification of individual aircraft operating as general air traffic under instrument flight rules throughout the airspace of the single European sky. (4)  The current method for identifying individual aircraft uses discrete secondary surveillance radar transponder codes ("SSR codes" — ), assigned in accordance with ICAO procedures and the air navigation plan for the European region. (5)  Traffic growth over the last decade has resulted in a routine lack of available discrete SSR codes to meet demand during peak periods, and so individual aircraft identification in European airspace cannot currently be guaranteed. () O] L 96, 31.3.2004, p. 26. () O] L 96, 31.3.2004, p. 1. (6) (11) An initial operational capability to use the downlinked aircraft identification feature should be deployed in a harmonised manner within a defined volume of airspace of the single European sky in order to reduce the overall demand for discrete SSR code assignments to achieve individual aircraft identification. In order to optimise the availability of discrete SSR codes, improved and harmonised capabilities for the automatic assignment of SSR codes to aircraft should be deployed by those air navigation service providers that will not have a capability to use the downlinked aircraft identifi- cation feature. A capability to use the downlinked aircraft identification feature throughout the airspace of the single European sky should be deployed in order to overcome the need for discrete SSR codes to identify general air traffic operating under instrument flight rules. A reduction in the requirement for discrete SSR code assignments when using the downlinked aircraft identifi- cation feature - can best be achieved by the integrated initial flight plan processing system identifying those flights that are eligible for the assignment of an agreed conspicuity code and on air navigation service providers assigning the agreed conspicuity code to those eligible flights when identification using the downlinked aircraft identification feature is successful. The downlinked aircraft identification feature can only be used to achieve individual aircraft identification where air navigation service providers deploy appropriate surveillance sensors, surveillance data processing and distribution system functionality, flight data processing system functionality, air-to-ground and ground-to- ground communications, controller display functionality, and provide for procedures and personnel training. The degree to which air navigation service providers can actually employ the capability to use the downlinked aircraft identification feature to reduce the requirement for the assignment of discrete SSR codes is dependent on the level of equipage of aircraft with the downlinked aircraft identification feature, on the extent that the routes of those aircraft are within contiguous coverage