The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) has joined forces with the UK’s ADS Group in sending a letter to the European Commission’s Chief Negotiator for Brexit Mr. Michel Barnier stressing the urgent need to begin technical and contingency planning discussions between the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) ahead of the UK’s departure from the European Union.

With less than 10 months to go until the UK’s departure from the EU, and little over two weeks until the European Council meeting in late June, the aviation industry in the UK, the EU and beyond are increasingly concerned about the continued lack of clarity on the status of the relationship between the UK and the EU, post-Brexit.

In the letter, GAMA President and CEO Pete Bunce and ADS Group’s Chief Executive Paul Everitt expressed the gravity of the situation: “Without an agreed solution and continued connectivity both for airlines/operators and aerospace parts, then supply chain disruption across Europe will occur, parts will be unable to be delivered, pilots and maintenance technicians will be unable to work, aerospace companies in the UK will lose foreign validations for their business, and aircraft will be grounded globally.”

“The impact of Brexit on aviation is not isolated to UK companies, it falls on the European aerospace industry as a whole,” the letter states. “We need to see significant progress on key issues at the June European Council meeting, including agreement that EASA and the UK CAA can begin technical and contingency planning discussions this summer.”

Both GAMA and ADS Group stressed that their industries stand ready to work with the UK Government and the EU to make sure the solutions agreed to in negotiations are pragmatic, comprehensive, and minimise any damaging impacts on the global industry.

Read the letter

GAMA hails European Parliament’s adoption of new EASA mandate

In further news, GAMA has hailed the European Parliament for its vote overwhelmingly in favour of a new mandate for the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), during a plenary session.

The new EASA ‘Basic Regulation’ will replace the existing Regulation 216/2008. This decisive step follows more than two years of drafting and preparation by the EU institutions, which culminated in a political agreement among the Parliament, Member States and Commission on 1 December 2017.

“Today’s endorsement by the entire Parliament paves the way for a new, modernised EASA framework in the coming months,” said Pete Bunce. “We are grateful to Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), led by Rapporteur Mr. Marian-Jean Marinescu MEP, and the Shadow Rapporteurs, for skillfully guiding this vital piece of legislation through to this final step. Industry and EASA are reliant on this new framework to fully realise the benefits of new technologies, oversight methods and the changing aviation landscape.”

Following the Parliament’s final vote on the new Basic Regulation, EU Member States must formally vote on the agreed compromise at Ministerial-level to finish the process. Upon this adoption by the Council of the EU, the new legislation can be published in the EU’s Official Journal and enter into force 20 days later. Numerous initiatives will then be required to subsequently update all of the lower-level rules, which implement the framework of the Basic Regulation.

Bunce continued, “This has been a mammoth task for all involved, and we truly appreciate the Parliament’s efforts to emphasise the need for appropriate rules for general aviation, in particular. MEPs have continually pushed Member States to address one of the most glaring omissions in European safety efforts - the lack of basic aggregate data sharing among national authorities.”

The text contains explicit 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. The new concept of a pan-European maintenance provider or operator under EASA oversight is a vital provision, which will allow appropriate companies to fully benefit from the pan-European international nature of aviation regulation.

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