PURPOSE : to conclude, on behalf of the European
Union, an agreement amending the Agreement between the United
States of America and the European Community on cooperation in the
regulation of civil aviation safety.
PROPOSED ACT: Council Decision.
ROLEOF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: Council may adopt the
act only with Parliaments approval.
BACKGROUND: the Agreement between the United States of
America and the European Community on cooperation in the regulation
of civil aviation safety entered into force on 1 May
2011.
The purpose of the Agreement is to ensure the
continuation of the high level of cooperation and harmonisation
between the United States and the European Union in the fields
within the scope of the Agreement.
The initial scope of the Agreement, covers: (i)
airworthiness approvals and monitoring of civil aeronautical
products; (ii) environmental testing and approvals of civil
aeronautical products; and (iii) approvals and monitoring of
maintenance facilities.
In the course of the implementation of the Agreement,
notably through discussions in the Bilateral Oversight Board
established under the Agreement, the United States' Federal
Aviation Administration ('the FAA') and the Commission have found
that there is a mutual desire to enhance the possibilities for
further aviation safety cooperation beyond the current provisions
of the Agreement, as a priority in the pilot licensing and training
field.
On 25 September 2014, the Council authorised the
Commission to negotiate an amendment to the Agreement, so as to
provide for additional areas of cooperation. The agreement amending
the Agreement was signed on behalf of the Union and should now be
approved.
CONTENT: the Commission requests that the Council
approve, on behalf of the EU, the Amendment 1 to the Agreement
between the United States of America and the European Community
on cooperation in the regulation of civil aviation safety. The
Amendment 1 to the Agreement extends the areas of cooperation
between the Parties, where reciprocal acceptance of approvals and
findings of compliance can apply, so as to allow for an optimised
resource utilisation and commensurate cost savings while
maintaining a high degree of safety in air transport.
Following Amendment No 1 of the Agreement, the
cooperation envisaged between the Parties now covers the following
areas:
- airworthiness approvals and monitoring of civil
aeronautical products;
- environmental testing and approvals of civil
aeronautical products;
- approvals and monitoring of maintenance
facilities;
- personnel licensing and training;
- operation of aircraft;
- aerodromes; and
- air traffic services and air traffic
management.
With regards to the scope of application of the
Agreement, the Parties will:
- elaborate and adopt additional annexes
to the Agreement that are necessary in order for
reciprocal acceptance of approvals and findings of compliance to
effectively apply in a given area, on mutual recognition that the
standards, practices, rules and procedures are sufficiently
compatible in a given area;
- deal with technical differences in their civil aviation systems in the
annexes.
Until entry into force of Amendment No 1, the Parties
agree to apply the Agreement provisionally from the date of its
signature.