The head of European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) - the new pan-European safety rulemaking body - warned national governments last week not to try to cling on to individual rulemaking powers. EASA executive director Patrick Goudou insists EASA "will replace, and I insist on this word, replace the national authorities".
EASA is currently engaged in extending its powers beyond its existing responsibility for airworthiness and maintenance into the operations arena. According to approved plans for centralising all aviation safety rulemaking, EASA is preparing to assume responsibility for operational issues, including air traffic management, airports and pilot licensing, mirroring the US Federal Aviation Administration.
Goudou used a speech to the European Parliament to address claims from several national aviation authorities, notably the UK Civil Aviation Authority, that supplementary national requirements will continue to be enforced in the future. But unlike its predecessor, the Joint Aviation Authorities, EASA will not merely recommend regulations. As an agency of the EU's executive, the European Commission, it will have the power to enforce compliance.
At the European Parliament, Goudou launched the agency's call for a second tranche of responsibility to be granted in a stepped approach. "Next year, the agency will start work on the possible extension of our remit to cover airport operations and air traffic control services," he says.
Meanwhile, EASA has had a setback in its recruitment target of 95 certification staff by the end of the year, mainly because of the agency's move from Brussels to Cologne, scheduled for 3 November, says Goudou. He adds that the agency's single largest project is the certification of systems for the Airbus A380 ultra-large airliner, which will last until 2006.
JUSTIN WASTNAGE / LONDON.
Source: Flight International
