The last years of the 1980s proved pivotal for EUROAVIA as we know it today. In 1987, the newly born Local Group in Berlin started writing a new version of the Statutes, and, during the congress in Stockholm, the Local Groups voted unanimously in favour of re-establishing a Central Committee as the managing body of the association, but only as a temporary experiment to be confirmed in the following year. The C.C. would be formed by three members from different Local Groups and countries, including a chairman, responsible for the continuity and representation of EUROAVIA, and two other members overseeing finances, communication, and coordination of activities. Moreover, finances could be used only upon approval of the congress. These decisions would prevent nationalistic interests to become too strong within the association. The members of the C.C. reported facing some challenges including slow communication via email and the difficulty of earning funds.
Some modifications took place to improve the situation: To prevent loss of knowledge and continuity, an overlapping system was started with half of the C.C. changing every six months, totalling six members; moreover, the Local Groups would pay a yearly tax to sustain the activities of the association. This was deemed necessary because of the great expansion of the association, which counted 21 Local Groups, and the increase in activities including many International Events, the EUROAVIA News and Newsletter, and the Practical Training Scheme, a project to facilitate practical experiences for members. A first sign of success was the European Cooperation Symposium hosted in Delft in 1988 which attracted more than 500 enthusiasts.
In 1989, some members were still not convinced by the new structure of the association and raised criticism on the role of the C.C. and the imposed taxes. This led to an exchange of articles published on the EUROAVIA News between the “conservative” and “progressive” groups. In line with these discussions, Fly-Ins ceased to be regarded as the “most important events”, shifting the focus more towards congresses, enabling the Local Group representatives to reunite and decide the future of the association.
In July 1989, the Symposium on Hypersonics in Munich proved to be a huge success, where EUROAVIA was presented for the first time to the guests as a cohesive European association with its own cross-cultural identity. Sponsors, companies and institutions gave positive feedback and were impressed by the determination of EUROAVIA members.
In August 1989, during the Jubilee Congress in Aachen to celebrate the 30th birthday of EUROAVIA, the representatives were convinced that a revolution in the goals of the association was needed, to match the new successes of those years. So, they established a task force called “Statutes Working Group” to write guidelines clearly describing the tasks of the C.C and every other technicality of the association. For instance, here it was decided that Local Groups could also be non-European but would not have right of vote in congresses. These guidelines were effectively the starting point for the creation of the new EUROAVIA Statues and Bylaws.
Right before the beginning of a new decade, in December 1989, an Extra Congress was held in Stuttgart to analyse the first draft of this document. After discussions and modifications, the document was still not ready for final approval, but started to be applied in practice, waiting for the final version to be voted in the next congress. By now, the progressive ideology was the dominant one within EUROAVIA, with the congress voting in favour of a cohesive transnational association, just as we know it today. To celebrate this new acquired identity, a new green logo was designed to be the symbol of EUROAVIA.