EASA says it makes sense in terms of resources to prioritise the agency's rulemaking activity. The order in which it plans to release its opinions, which will be available by mid-2011, is as follows:

1. Flight crew licensing, which will include the transposition of JAR-FCL 1 and 2 and the new licences including the leisure pilot licence.

2. Commercial air transport: includes transposition of EU-OPS and JAR-OPS 3.

3. Medical requirements for pilots and cabin crew.

4. Operations regulations covering aerial work, training flights and test flights.

5. Non-commercial operations.

6. Operational suitablity data and safety directives: this includes the requirement for aircraft manufacturers to produce for each type the data operators need to create minimum equipment lists and type training courses. The rules will distinguish between complex and non-complex aircraft.

7. Safety assessment of aircraft: based on existing rules for ramp inspections for assessing the safety of registered aircraft that are in operation.

8. Third country operators: EASA says it has dropped the original proposals for further consideration following consultation, and the revised proposals are not yet ready for publication.

Source: Flight International