Today the European Commission published evaluations on two key pieces of aviation safety legislation. The evaluation of the Air Safety List Regulation confirms that the Air Safety List serves to protect air passengers within and outside the European Union and is a strong incentive for third countries to improve their aviation safety standards. The evaluation of the Regulation on the investigation and prevention of accidents and incidents in civil aviation finds that since the entry into force of EU rules the quality of safety investigations has improved across Europe.
Findings of the Air Safety List evaluation
The Air Safety List Regulation remains the only aviation safety-enforcement means at the disposal of the EU reaching and protecting passengers worldwide. The costs incurred in relation to the implementation of the Regulation are outweighed by the benefits it brings. The Regulation has been found coherent with other European Union legislation and instruments. Also, the Air Safety List Regulation provides passengers with the right to reimbursement or re-routing when an air carrier becomes subject to an EU ban. To further improve in the future the evaluation recommends:
- to further improve the awareness of the travel industry and passengers;
- to strengthen technical cooperation efforts in the area of safety;
- to continue coordination and fine tuning with other aviation safety instruments such as the programme for inspections of aircraft by third country operators (SAFA Programme) and the Third Country Operator authorisation system to avoid duplication and better exploit synergies.
Findings of the evaluation on EU rules on the investigation and prevention of accidents and incidents in civil aviation
Considerable improvements in the quality of investigation have been made in Europe since the entry into force of relevant EU rules in 2010. In particular, the close cooperation between the safety investigation authorities (SIAs) in the framework of the European Network of Civil Aviation Safety Investigation Authorities (ENCASIA) has allowed most Member States to be better prepared for handling investigations of aircraft accidents and incidents. National authorities and other aviation experts assessed that exchanging best practices and developing common investigation methods remain relevant. The evaluation does highlight a number of areas and challenges for the investigation and prevention of accidents and incidents to address:
- lack of sufficient resources of smaller national safety investigation authorities
- consistency in the use of information collected during an investigation in various domestic courts
- making better use of the possibility to conclude advanced arrangements between SIAs and other investigation authorities, as envisaged in the Regulation.
More information
On the evaluation of the Air Safety List regulation
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swd20190179.pdf
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swd20190180.pdf
- Support study: Evaluation of Regulation (EC) No 2111/2005 on the establishment of a Community list of air carriers subject to an operating ban in the Community
On the evaluation of the Regulation on investigation and prevention of accidents and incidents in civil aviation
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swd20190177.pdf
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swd20190178.pdf
Details
- Publication date
- 17 May 2019
- Author
- Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport