EU tightens grip over aviation safety

European lawmakers have approved a compromise deal on handing over more powers to Europe’s Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), including the possibility of imposing fines on unworthy aircraft manufacturers, in a bid to tighten variable air safety standards across the 27 nation bloc.

According to the text adopted by MEPs on 12 December, EASA will take over from national authorities as regards regulating airline companies’ operations, licensing pilots and certifying third-country aircraft. 

In an important amendment, the agency will also be able to ask the Commission to impose “fines and periodic penalty payments” on aircraft manufacturers and equipment suppliers to which it has awarded certificates – companies such as Airbus, BAE Systems or Rolls Royce – if they are “intentionally or negligently” in breach of EU safety provisions. 

The amount of the fines would be limited to 4% of the certificate holder’s annual income or turnover and periodic penalties would not be able to exceed 2.5% of its average daily income or turnover. 

The AeroSpace and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD) says the new provisions “should ensure more credibility for EASA enforcement capability”. 

EASA was granted exclusive responsibility for the airworthiness and environmental compatibility of aeronautical products, parts and appliances when it was set up in 2002. But air traffic standards continued to be set by a number of intergovernmental bodies, such as the EU’s Joint Aviation Authority, Eurocontrol or the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), which have no binding authority over member states. 

As a result, safety standards continue to vary widely between the EU’s 27 members. The adoption of this new regulation, with compulsory and harmonised measures, aims to reduce these disparities. 

The Commission welcomed the vote, saying: “These new provisions will considerably increase levels of accident prevention£. It added that the new fine system would reinforce respect for the rules and, by offering an alternative to the outright withdrawal of certificates, “will give the Commission the possibility of bringing a more nuanced response in the case of less serious infractions”. 

The draft law must still get formal approval from the member states, but this should be a mere formality as they have already given their backing to the text.

The Commission said it would make fresh proposals by mid-2008 on extending EASA’s competences to the safety of airport infrastructure, air traffic management and air navigation services. 

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