Article 31 Charging zone and unit rates

1.   Unit rates shall be set per calendar year and for each charging zone, on the basis of the determined costs and the traffic forecasts established in the performance plans as well as applicable adjustments deriving from previous years and other revenues, in particular public funds, including financial support from Union assistance programmes.

2.   Without prejudice to Article 30(5), Member States shall define, before the start of a reference period, the charging zones for air navigation services and shall identify the air traffic service providers falling under the scope of each charging zone. The Commission shall adopt an implementing act to define the conditions under which Member States may modify or establish a new terminal charging zone during a reference period. That implementing act shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 48(3).

3.   Unit rates shall be set by the Member States, and be subject to verification by the Commission that they comply with Article 29, Article 30 and with this Article.

Where the Commission finds that a unit rate does not fulfil those requirements, the unit rate shall be reviewed accordingly by the Member State concerned, and amended so as to fulfil those requirements.

Unit rates shall be published.

4.   Member States may define common charging zones and, in such cases, shall set common unit rates for those charging zones.