Transport Ministers
from across the European Union’s Member States have
reached agreement on a new mandate for the European
Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
The agreement opens
the door for final negotiations among the European
Parliament, EU Member States, and the European
Commission to agree on a final text. This step
followed a 10 November vote in the European
Parliament, where Members of the Transport & Tourism
Committee overwhelmingly approved to open
negotiations with the other EU institutions in order
to update EASA’s existing ‘Basic Regulation.’
“All three
institutions have now sent a strong signal in favour
of modernising the Agency and the European aviation
system as a whole,” said
Pete Bunce,
President and CEO of the General Aviation
Manufacturers Association (GAMA). “There is clear
political will to ensure a risk- ased, proportionate
approach guides all future EASA work.
“For general
aviation,” Bunce continued, “it is imperative that
we have the appropriate level of regulation for each
activity, combined with efficient oversight that
facilitates the development of new and innovative
products. With the Basic Regulation amended so
infrequently, we must ensure these concepts are
framed correctly for the future.”
All sides have
moved in the direction of a future EASA framework
that aims to be flexible, with most of the proposals
focused on moving from prescriptive to more nimble,
lower-level regulations and standards. The proposals
also contain clear language on the need for
efficient certification and validation procedures,
along with new roles for EASA in the areas of
oversight, security, research, and beyond.
“There are many
good elements with the current proposals, although
we remain convinced that more needs to be done to
improve safety analysis of general aviation aircraft
across Europe,” Bunce noted. “In this vein, the
Parliament has shown itself once again as being
committed to addressing one of the most glaring
omissions in European safety efforts—the lack of
basic aggregate data sharing among EU Member States.
We very much hope the Parliament’s desire to improve
this situation will be enshrined in the regulation.
“In addition, we
strongly support allowing EASA the possibility to
become the responsible regulatory authority for
companies spread across Member States, through the
issuance of pan-European certificates. This is a
logical step forward for a pan-European safety
agency, and we simply cannot afford to see this
option thwarted at the final hurdle by unnecessary
obstacles,” concluded Bunce.
The three-way
negotiations are expected to begin in 2017, with the
Parliament’s delegation led by the lead Member of
European Parliament, Mr Marian Marinescu, and the
Member States represented by Malta, which will hold
the rotating EU Presidency. It is expected that by
mid- 017 all parties will agree on a final
regulation, which will become law upon publication. |