Aerospace & Aviation
Volume 1 • Issue 3
European Commission Seeks to Replace JAA with EASA
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The European Commission (EC) presented a proposal to the European Council of Transport Ministers that would replace Europe's Joint Aviation Authority (JAA) with a powerful new European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The EC's goal is to create a pan-European regulator with real teeth, legally empowered to legislate and enforce safety standards across the European Union (EU).
Under the current arrangement, member states agree to implement JAA requirements as national law without any changes, but must notify other members if this proves difficult. This allows JAA requirements to be treated as optional, negating the aim of EU-common standards. It is the desire of the EU to overcome these limitations by transferring the non-binding JAA arrangement into EASA, an organization with legally binding safety requirements.
When the JAA was established activities primarily involved setting technical specifications such as: the maximum wing-loading on a new aircraft design; the best way to equip aircraft with emergency exits; what the aisle width should be; or the crash loads of a glider. Obtaining agreement between member countries was easier. Today, the issues are much more complex and a consensus among member countries has become nearly impossible. For example, issues cover such questions as:
- How much training should an airline pilot have?
- What should the flight time limitations and crew rest times be?
- What fuel load and equipment must be carried on long-range routes over ice caps, deserts or oceans?
The proposal to establish EASA is intended to guarantee a uniform, high level of safety in civil aviation, enabling common safety requirements to be imposed in relation to products, persons and appliances and to ensure compliance with those requirements. At the same time, the proposal seeks to achieve progress in terms of environmental protection and the implementation and promotion of the internal market. The EC also hopes that its proposed structure for EASA will enable countries that are not yet members of the EU to join this safety agency.
Finally, the EC believes that the disappearance of the various national regulatory and certification procedures and their replacement by a system of recognition of certificates, on the basis of uniform rules, will lead to greater cost-efficiency and a reduction in bureaucratic formalities. If the EU Council of Ministers agrees to the EC proposal, and the following "co-decision process" in the European Parliament lasts an estimated 18 months, EASA could be up-and-running in September 2003.
JAA regulations are available from Global. Call today for a complete listing.