Civil aviation: common rules, European Aviation Safety Agency

PURPOSE : to establish a high level of safety in the Community by means of the formulation, approval and uniform application of all necessary aviation safety regulations, and to create a European Aviation Safety Agency. CONTENT : the current Community system is based on Regulation 3922/91/EEC on the harmonisation of technical requirements and administrative procedures in the field of civil aviation, and on JAA (Joint Aviation Authorities). During recent years this has been criticised for not working properly for the effective and timely adoption of or amendment of the necessary Community legislation. Moreover, the Commission highlights problems which still prevent the internal market from developing completely : fragmentation of air traffic control (ATC), allocation of slots, cost of infrastructure, the absence of an external dimension to aviation and the fragmentation of safety rules. Several actions are currently being developed to tackle these issues. This proposal is the response to overcome the difficulties in the technical field. The principle objective of this Regulation is to establish a high uniform level of aviation safety and eenvironmental protection in Europe. Additional objectives would be the facilitation of free and fair competition in the Community; more efficient certification processes and the world-wide promotion of European aviation standards. The means of achieving these objectives shall be the preparation, adoption and uniform application of all necessary acts; the recognition without additional requirements of certificates, licences, approvals or other documents granted to products, personnel and organisations; the establishment of a European Aviation Safety Agency. With regard to the Agency, it is proposed that it will be established as part of the Community system. It shall also be endowed with decision-making powers in the field of type certification and will be able to conduct investigations and inspection. In terms of the budget, it is proposed that for the first year the budget for the Agency can be valued at roughly EUR 3 100 000. When fully operational it will need a budget of circa EUR 28 700 000. The Agency needs a budget allocation large enough to hire highly qualified staff. �