WIREDGOV

On Friday the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER I) examined and approved the final compromise text negotiated in informal trilogues between the Lithuanian Presidency and the European Parliament on the Proposal for Occurrence Reporting Regulation, which aims to improve aviation safety by establishing common rules in the field of occurrence reporting in civil aviation. This Regulation seeks to ensure that in cases of collection of occurrence information safety actions are taken in a timely manner, and that relevant civil aviation safety information is reported, collected, stored, protected, exchanged, disseminated and analyzed.

“It is very important, that aviation safety risks are considered and dealt with at European level. A high and uniform general level of safety should be ensured in civil aviation in the Union and all efforts should be made to reduce the number of accidents and incidents to ensure public confidence in aviation transport,” said Minister of Transport of Lithuania Rimantas Sinkevičius.

He thanked the negotiators of the TRAN Committee of the European Parliament for their constructiveness in reaching agreement on this dossier in a timely manner.

This Regulation lays down provisions on reporting of occurrences or other safety related information which endanger or which, if not corrected or addressed, would endanger an aircraft, its occupants, any other person, equipment or installation affecting aircraft operations. The objective of occurrence reporting is the prevention of accidents and incidents and not to attribute blame or liability. This Regulation aims to assist Member States, European Safety Agency (EASA) and organisations in managing aviation safety risks.

In the negotiations the Parliament accepted the Council compromise proposal on the delegations of power and an 18 month delayed entry into force for the whole Regulation.

The Chair of the COREPER Committee will send a letter to the TRAN committee of the European Parliament to confirm the first reading agreement.

Background

On 19 December 2012, the Commission transmitted to the Council and to the European Parliament the Proposal for Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on occurrence reporting in civil aviation amending Regulation 996/2010 N° 1321/2007 and Commission Regulation n° 1330/2007.

The Council started the examination of the proposal in January 2013. On 10 June 2013, the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council adopted a General Approach on the proposal.

On 17 September 2013, the TRAN Committee of the European Parliament adopted the first reading amendments. The Lithuanian Presidency has begun negotiations with the European Parliament in view of reaching an agreement at first reading. The third and last informal trilogue took place on 25 November.

The purpose of this proposal is to improve the system of rules on occurrence reporting established under Directive 2003/42/EC and its implementing rules, Commission Regulation (EC) No 1321/2007 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1330/2007, on the basis of experience acquired during the implementation of the above-mentioned instruments.

The main objective is to contribute to the reduction of the number of aircraft accidents and related fatalities, through the improvement of existing systems, both at national and European level, using civil aviation occurrences for correcting safety deficiencies and prevent them from reoccurring.

The specific objectives are the following:

• Ensure that all occurrences which endanger or would endanger aviation safety are collected and providing a complete and clear picture of safety risks in the European Union and its Member States;
• Ensure that data issued from reported occurrences and stored in the national databases and in the European Central Repository (ECR) are complete and of high quality;
• Ensure that all safety information stored in the ECR is accessed adequately by appropriate authorities and that they are used strictly for safety enhancement purposes;
• Ensure that reported occurrences are effectively analysed, that safety hazards are identified and addressed where relevant and that the safety effectiveness of actions taken is monitored.