Regulation 2018/1139 - Common Rules in the Field of Civil Aviation and Establishing EASA
Regulation 2018/1139 - Common Rules in the Field of Civil Aviation and Establishing EASA
Regulation (EU) No 2018/1139 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2018 on common rules in the field of civil aviation and establishing a European Union Aviation Safety Agency, and amending Regulations (EC) No 2111/2005, (EC) No 1008/2008, (EU) No 996/2010, (EU) No 376/2014 and Directives 2014/30/EU and 2014/53/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council, and repealing Regulations (EC) No 552/2004 and (EC) No 216/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Regulation (EEC) No 3922/91 - text published in the Official Journal of the European Union
Objective
The principal objective of this Regulation is to establish and maintain a high uniform level of civil aviation safety in Europe.
Additional objectives:
- to contribute to the wider Union aviation policy and to the improvement of the overall performance of the civil aviation sector;
- to facilitate the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital and improve the competitiveness of the Union's aviation industry;
- to contribute to a high, uniform level of environmental protection;
- to facilitate movement of goods, services and personnel worldwide;
- to promote cost-efficiency as well as an efficient use of resources at Union and national level;
- to contribute to establishing and maintaining a high uniform level of civil aviation security;
- to assist Member States in exercising their rights and fulfilling their obligations under the Chicago Convention;
- to promote, worldwide, the views of the Union regarding civil aviation standards and civil aviation rules;
- to promote research and innovation;
- to promote technical and operational interoperability and the sharing of administrative best practices;
- to support passenger confidence in a safe civil aviation.
Summary
Scope
This Regulation applies to:
- the design, production, maintenance and operation of aircraft and their parts including remotely controlled aircraft;
- the operation of aircraft into, within, or out of the EU territory;
- the design, production, maintenance and operation of safety-related aerodrome equipment and the provision of groundhandling services and AMS at the aerodromes;
- the design, maintenance and operation of aerodromes;
- the safeguarding of surroundings of the aerodromes;
- the provision of ATM/ANS in the SES airspace, and the design, production, maintenance and operation of systems and constituents used in the provision of ATM/ANS;
- the design of airspace structures in the SES airspace.
This Regulation does not apply to:
- aircraft and their parts for carrying out military, customs, police, search and rescue, firefighting, border control, coastguard or similar activities or services;
- aerodromes controlled and operated by the military;
- ATM/ANS provided or made available by the military;
- the design, production, maintenance and operation of aircraft the operation of which involves low risk for aviation safety.
Substantive Requirements
This part of the Regulation defines the basic principles and lays down requirements for:
- Airworthiness and environmental protection
- Aircrew
- Air operations
- Aerodromes
- ATM/ANS
- Air traffic controllers
- Unmanned aircraft
- Aircraft used by a third-country operator into, within or out of the Union
Joint Certification, Oversight and Enforcement System
This part of the Regulation defines:
- General provisions for certification, oversight and enforcement
- Establishment and maintenance of a shared pool of European aviation inspectors
- Provisions for the reallocation of responsibility upon request of Member States or organisations operating in more than one Member State
- The oversight support mechanism
- Provisions for the validity and recognition of certificates and declarations
- Provisions for the acceptance of third-country certification
- Provisions for allocating certain tasks to qualified entities
- Safeguard provisions for situations where an immediate reaction to a problem relating to civil aviation safety is necessary
- Flexibility provisions for granting exemptions from the applicable requirements under this Regulations
- Provisions for information gathering, exchange and analysis
- Provisions for the protection of the source of information
- Provisions for the establishment and maintenance of a repository of information
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)
This part of the Regulation defines:
- the tasks that are performed by EASA; these are mostly related to:
- issuing certificates to aircratft, organizations, aircrew, air traffic controllers, etc.
- oversight and monitoring, including investigations, fines and penalties
- development and provision of guidance material and best practicies in various fields
- implementation of SES
- the internal structure of EASA
- the working methods of EASA
- financial and evaluation provisions regarding EASA
Final Provisions
The final provisions of the Regulation define:
- The Committee that is set up to assist the European Commission
- Exercise of the delegation of power to the European Commission
- The participation of European third countries
- Provisions concerning the accommodation to be provided for certain Agency staff in the host Member State
- The principles regarding penalties for infringing this Regulation. The penalties shall be effective, proportionate and dissuasive.
- Provisions for the processing of personal data
Annexes
The main body of the Regulation is followed by ten annexes:
- Annex I lists aircraft that are excluded from the provisions of this Regulation (because they are considered low risk for aviation safety)
- Annex II contains essential requirements for airworthiness
- Annex III contains essential requirements for environmental compatibility related to products
- Annex IV contains essential requirements for aircrew
- Annex V contains essential requirements for air operations
- Annex VI contains essential requirements for qualified entities
- Annex VII contains essential requirements for aerodromes
- Annex VIII contains essential requirements for ATM/ANS and air traffic controllers
- Annex IX contains essential requirements for unmanned aircraft
- Annex X contains a correlation table between the repealed Regulation (EC) No 216/2008 and this Regulation
Entry into Force
This Regulation entered into force in September 2018.
This Regulation amends:
- Regulation (EC) No 2111/2005. The amendment of article 4 concerns references to the (repealed) Regulation (EEC) No 3922/91 and an updated name of the Committee ('EU Air Safety Committee')
- Regulation (EC) No 1008/2008. The provisions for Air operator certificates are updated (articles 4, 6 and 12).
- Regulation (EU) No 996/2010. Article 5 (Obligation to investigate) is replaced with new text.
- Regulation (EU) No 376/2014. Article 3 (Subject matter and scope) is updated.
- Directive 2014/30/EU. Article 2 (Scope) is updated.
- Directive 2014/53/EU. Annex I (Equipment Not Covered by This Directive) is updated.
This Regulation repeals:
- Regulation (EC) No 216/2008, with effect from 11 September 2018.
- Regulation (EC) No 552/2004, with effect from 11 September 2018. However, certain articles and annexes to that Regulation continue to apply until the date of application of the relevant delegated acts covering the subject matter of the relevant provisions of Regulation (EC) No 552/2004, and in any case not later than 12 September 2023.
- Regulation (EEC) No 3922/91, from the date of application of the detailed rules on flight and duty time limitations and rest requirements with regard to air taxi, emergency medical service and single pilot commercial air transport operations by aeroplanes.
Note: References to the repealed Regulations shall be construed as references to this Regulation and, where appropriate, read in accordance with the correlation table in Annex X.
Amendment
This Regulation was first amended by Regulation 2021/1087. References to some provisions of the Chicago Convention were updated.
The second amendment to this Regulation was made by Regulation 2024/2083. The most notable changes were:
- Replaced references to Regulations 549/2004, 550/2004 and 551/2004 with references to this Regulation.
- Added a provision for imposing additional conditions to the certificates of ATM/ANS providers. These conditions must be objectively justified, non-discriminatory, proportionate and transparent.
- Added a provision to the effect that, for the purpose of performing their tasks of certification, oversight and enforcement, the competent authorities must rely on the assessments made by the national supervisory authority
- Added provisions for air traffic data services in Annex VIII (essential requirements for ATM/ANS and air traffic controllers). The data must be of sufficient quality, integrity and be disseminated in a timely and reliable manner.
- Added provisions in Annex VIII regarding the finacial robustness and appropriate liability and insurance cover of ATM/ANS providers. Also, the organizational structure must prevent conflicts of interest and ensure non-discriminatory service provision.
Regulation 2018/1139 - EASA Basic Regulation (OJ, 22.08.2018)
Further Reading
European Commission
- EUR-Lex Portal: Regulation 2018/1139 (available in different languages and file formats)
- EUR-Lex Portal: Regulation 2018/1139 consolidated version (available in different languages and file formats)
- Air Transport Portal of the European Commission - Single European Sky
EASA
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