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Mobility and Transport

Public consultation on the evaluation of the regulation on the investigation and prevention of accidents and incidents in civil aviation (Regulation 996/2010)

Since the early days of commercial air transport, air crashes and major air incidents have been thoroughly investigated with the aim to further enhance aviation safety. The investigation allows to understand the technical, operational or human causes of a crash and to decide on necessary improvements to be made to the aviation safety system. It is a key component of safety risk management in aviation.

Despite the excellent safety performance of aviation in Europe and its leading role in aviation safety, we must constantly remain vigilant and improve our understanding of any possible weakness in the system. All efforts should be made to reduce the number of accidents and incidents and to ensure public confidence in air transport. Promoting excellence in investigating of civil aviation accidents and incidents and thus preventing future accidents has been the basic aim of Regulation (EU) No 996/2010[1]. This Regulation builds on the international obligations outlined in the Chicago Convention[2] requiring that each State sets up an independent national safety investigation organisation (SIA) the sole objective of which is the prevention of accidents and incidents, and not the apportioning of blame and liability. It also addresses the issues of handling confidential information in line with the Just Culture[3] principle and informing and providing assistance to victims and their relatives.

Finally, in order to ensure a level playing field throughout Europe, the Regulation requires SIAs to exchange best practices and safety data and promote mutual support through a network of SIAs. The Commission is currently evaluating this Regulation and carries out an in-depth technical evaluation study involving key stakeholders and Member States' authorities. The intention is to gather information and draft a report that is to be presented at the end of 2017. This serves as an additional contribution to the consultation of specialised entities. We kindly ask you to answer the questions of this Open Public consultation which will complement the overall evaluation study:

Consultation period

This consultation will last for 12 weeks. Questionnaires should be returned by 19 September 2017 at the very latest.

Target group

All interested citizens and organisations are welcome to participate in this consultation.

Structure of the questionnaire

This survey contains the following sections:

Introduct ion
About you
Familiarity with the Regulation 996/2010
Image of the national safety investigation authority
Protection of technical data
Protection of private data
Informing relatives of victims
Emergency and assistance plans
General comments

    The first section is obligatory for all respondents, collecting information about the respondent and asking for the right to publish the information.

    The second section is designed to gather input from a broad public audience on the general functioning of the Directives and the need for continued EU action in this field.

    Questionnaire

    Using the questionnaire

    • The questionnaire is available in English, French and German will follow soon.
    • Contributions may be submitted in any of the official EU languages.
    • You can skip questions that you do not feel comfortable responding to. However, replies to questions marked with an asterisk are compulsory. You can also pause at any time and continue later. Once you have submitted your answers, you will be able to download a copy of your completed questionnaire

    Context and objective of the consultation

    The European Commission has launched an impact assessment process with a view to the possible revision of the EU road infrastructure safety management and road tunnel safety legislation. This on-line public consultation is organised to allow interested stakeholders and citizens to express their views on this as part of the impact assessment process.

    Stakeholders with specialist knowledge or direct professional links to the topic are invited, in the framework of this public consultation, to upload relevant expertise material or send them by e-mail to MOVE-Road-Infrastructure-Safetyatec [dot] europa [dot] eu (MOVE-Road-Infrastructure-Safety[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu)

    All such contributions will be analysed, reported on and considered in the evaluation.

    More information can be found on the following webpages:

    General information on Road Safety policies: https://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/

    The two EU Directives (and accompanying documents, including national guidelines for the implementation of the legislation) are available on: https://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/topics/infrastructure

    Relevant ex-post evaluation studies:

    Transparency and confidentiality

    Please note that contributions received from this survey, together with the identity of the contributor, will be published on the European Commission's website, unless the contributor objects to publication of the personal information. In this case, the contribution will be published in anonymous form.

    Follow the explanations about the protection of personal data.

    The policy on "protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions" is based on Regulation (EC) N° 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000.

    Important notice

    As part of the European Transparency Initiative, organisations are invited to use the Register of interest representatives to provide the European Commission and the public at large with information about their objectives, funding and structures.

    If you are not registered yet in this register, please visit: http://ec.europa.eu/transparencyregister/

    Disclaimer

    Please note that this document has been drafted for information and consultation purposes only. It has not been adopted or in any way approved by the European Commission and should not be regarded as representative of the views of Commission staff. It does not in any way prejudge, or constitute the announcement of, any position on the part of the Commission on the issues covered. The European Commission does not guarantee the accuracy of the information provided, nor does it accept responsibility for any use made thereof.