1.Aircraft, including any installed product, part and appliance, which are:
(a)designed or manufactured by an organisation for which the Agency or a Member State ensures safety oversight; or
(b)registered in a Member State; or
(c)registered in a third country and used by an operator for which any Member State ensures oversight of operations;
shall comply with this Regulation unless their regulatory safety oversight has been delegated to a third country and they are not used by a Community operator.
2.Paragraph 1 shall not apply to aircraft referred to in Annex II.
3.This Regulation shall not affect the rights of third countries as specified in international conventions, in particular the Chicago Convention.
1.Aircraft referred to in Article 4(1) shall comply with the essential requirements for airworthiness laid down in Annex I.
2.Compliance of aircraft registered in a Member State, and of products, parts and appliances mounted thereon shall be established in accordance with the following.
(a)Products shall have a type-certificate. The type-certificate, and certification of changes to that type-certificate, including supplemental type-certificates, shall be issued when the applicant has shown that the product complies with a type-certification basis as specified in Article 15, established to ensure compliance with the essential requirements referred to in paragraph 1, and when it has no feature or characteristic making it unsafe for operation. The type-certificate shall cover the product, including all parts and appliances fitted thereon.
(b)Parts and appliances may be issued with specific certificates when they are shown to comply with detailed airworthiness specifications established to ensure compliance with the essential requirements referred to in paragraph 1.
(c)Each aircraft shall be issued with an individual certificate of airworthiness when it is shown that it conforms with the type design approved in its type-certificate and that relevant documentation, inspections and tests demonstrate that the aircraft is in condition for safe operation. This certificate of airworthiness shall remain valid as long as it is not suspended, revoked or terminated and as long as the aircraft is maintained in accordance with the essential requirements related to continuing airworthiness set out in point 1.d of Annex I and the implementing rules referred to in paragraph 4.
(d)Organisations responsible for the design, manufacture and maintenance of products, parts and appliances shall demonstrate their capability and means to discharge the responsibilities associated with their privileges. Unless otherwise accepted these capabilities and means shall be recognised through the issuance of an organisation approval. The privileges granted to the approved organisation and the scope of the approval shall be specified in the terms of approval.
In addition:
(e)personnel responsible for the release of a product, part or appliance after maintenance may be required to hold an appropriate certificate (‘personnel certificate’);
(f)the capability of maintenance training organisations to discharge the responsibilities associated with their privileges in relation to the issuance of the certificates referred to in point (e) may be recognised by the issuance of an approval.
3.By way of derogation from paragraphs 1 and 2:
(a)a permit to fly may be issued when it is shown that the aircraft is capable of performing safely a basic flight. It shall be issued with appropriate limitations, in particular to protect third parties' safety;
(b)a restricted certificate of airworthiness may be issued to aircraft for which a type certificate has not been issued according to paragraph 2(a). In this case, the aircraft shall be shown to comply with specific airworthiness specifications and deviations from the essential requirements referred to in paragraph 1 shall nevertheless ensure adequate safety with regard to the purpose. Aircraft eligible for these restricted certificates, and limitations for use of these aircraft, shall be defined according to the implementing rules referred to in paragraph 4;
(c)when the number of aircraft of the same type eligible for a restricted certificate of airworthiness so justifies, a restricted type certificate may be issued and an appropriate type certification basis shall be established.
4.The Commission shall adopt, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 54(3), the rules for the implementation of this Article, specifying in particular:
(a)conditions to establish and notify to an applicant the type-certification basis applicable to a product;
(b)conditions to establish and notify to an applicant the detailed airworthiness specifications applicable to parts and appliances;
(c)conditions to establish and notify to an applicant the specific airworthiness specifications applicable to aircraft eligible for a restricted certificate of airworthiness;
(d)conditions to issue and disseminate mandatory information in order to ensure the continuing airworthiness of products;
(e)conditions to issue, maintain, amend, suspend or revoke type-certificates, restricted type-certificates, approval of changes to type-certificates, individual certificates of airworthiness, restricted certificates of airworthiness, permits to fly and certificates for products, parts or appliances, including:
conditions on the duration of these certificates, and conditions to renew certificates when a limited duration is fixed;
restrictions applicable to the issue of permits to fly. These restrictions should in particular concern the following:
purpose of the flight,
airspace used for the flight,
qualification of flight crew,
carriage of persons other than flight crew;
aircraft eligible for restricted certificates of airworthiness, and associated restrictions;
(f)conditions to issue, maintain, amend, suspend or revoke organisation approvals required in accordance with paragraph 2(d) and (f) and conditions under which such approvals need not be requested;
(g)conditions to issue, maintain, amend, suspend or revoke personnel certificates required in accordance with paragraph 2(e);
(h)responsibilities of the holders of certificates;
(i)how aircraft referred to in paragraph 1 which are not covered by paragraph 2 or 3 are to show compliance with the essential requirements.
5.When establishing the implementing rules referred to in paragraph 4, the Commission will take specific care that they:
(a)reflect the state of the art and the best practices in the field of airworthiness;
(b)take into account worldwide aircraft experience in service, and scientific and technical progress;
(c)allow for immediate reaction to established causes of accidents and serious incidents.
[F11. Products, parts and appliances shall comply with the environmental protection requirements contained in Amendment 8 of Volume I and in Amendment 5 of Volume II of Annex 16 to the Chicago Convention as applicable on 24 November 2005 , except for the Appendices to Annex 16.]
2.In accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 54(3), paragraph 1 of this Article may be adapted, in order to bring it in line with subsequent amendments to the Chicago Convention and its Annexes, which enter into force after the adoption of this Regulation and which become applicable in all Member States, in so far as such adaptations do not broaden the scope of this Regulation.
3.The Commission shall prescribe the rules for the implementation of paragraph 1, using as necessary the content of the Appendices mentioned in paragraph 1, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 54(3).
Textual Amendments
With regard to the basic principles, applicability and essential requirements for the fields covered by Article 1(1)(b), the Commission shall, as soon as possible, submit proposals thereon to the European Parliament and to the Council.
1.Member States shall, without further technical requirements or evaluation, recognise the certificates issued in accordance with this Regulation. When the original recognition is for a particular purpose, or purposes, any subsequent recognition shall cover only the same purpose(s).
2.Pending adoption of the implementing rules referred to in Article 5(4), and without prejudice to Article 57(2), certificates which cannot be issued in accordance with this Regulation may be issued on the basis of the applicable national regulations.
1.By way of derogation from the provisions of this Regulation and the rules adopted for its implementation, the Agency or the aviation authorities in the Member State may issue certificates on the basis of certificates issued by aeronautical authorities of a third country, as provided for in recognition agreements between the Community and that third country.
2.(a)In the absence of an agreement concluded by the Community, a Member State or the Agency may issue certificates on the basis of certifications issued by the competent authorities of a third country in application of an agreement concluded by that Member State with the third country in question before the entry into force of the related provisions of this Regulation and notified to the Commission and the other Member States. The Agency may also issue such certificates on behalf of any Member State in application of an agreement concluded by one of the Member States with the third country in question.
(b)If the Commission considers that:
(b)the provisions of an agreement between a Member State and a third country would not provide for a level of safety equivalent to that specified by this Regulation and its implementing rules, and/or
such agreement would discriminate among Member States without compelling safety reasons or is contrary to Community foreign policy vis-à-vis a third country,
it may, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 54(2) require the Member State concerned to modify the agreement or to suspend its application or to renounce it, in conformity with Article 307 of the Treaty.
(c)Member States shall take the necessary measures to renounce agreements as soon as possible after the entry into force of an agreement between the Community and the third country in question, for those domains covered by that latter agreement.
1.The provisions of this Regulation and of rules adopted for its implementation shall not prevent a Member State from reacting immediately to a safety problem which involves a product, person or organisation subject to the provisions of this Regulation.
If the safety problem is the result of:
(a)an inadequate level of safety resulting from the application of this Regulation; or
(b)a shortcoming in this Regulation or its implementing rules;
the Member State shall immediately notify to the Agency, the Commission and the other Member States the measures taken and the reasons therefor.
2.The Commission shall decide, in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 54(3), whether an inadequate level of safety or a shortcoming in this Regulation or its implementing rules justify the continuing application of the measures adopted pursuant to paragraph 1. In that event, it shall also take the necessary steps to amend the related rule. If the Member State's measures are found not to be justified, the Member State shall revoke or amend the measures in question.
3.Member States may grant exemptions from the substantive requirements laid down in this Regulation and its implementing rules in the event of unforeseen urgent operational circumstances or operational needs of a limited duration, provided the level of safety is not adversely affected thereby. The Agency, the Commission and the other Member States shall be notified of any such exemptions as soon as they become repetitive or where they are granted for periods of more than two months.
4.Where the measures decided on by a Member State are less restrictive than the applicable Community provisions, the Commission shall examine whether the exemptions comply with the general safety objective of this Regulation or any other rule of Community law. If the exemptions granted do not comply with the general safety objectives of this Regulation or any other rule of Community law, the Commission shall take a decision in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 54(4). In such a case, the Member State shall revoke the exemption.
5.Where an equivalent level of protection to that attained by the application of the implementing rules for Articles 5 and 6 can be achieved by other means, Member States may, without discrimination on grounds of nationality, grant approval derogating from those implementing rules. In such cases, the Member State concerned shall notify the Commission that it intends to grant such approval and shall give reasons demonstrating the need to derogate from the rule concerned, as well as the conditions laid down to ensure that an equivalent level of protection is achieved.
6.Within three months of being notified by a Member State in accordance with paragraph 5, the Commission shall initiate the procedure referred to in Article 54(3), in order to decide whether an approval proposed in accordance with paragraph 5 fulfils the conditions laid down in that paragraph and can be granted. In such a case, it shall notify its decision to all Member States, which shall also be entitled to apply that measure. The provisions of Article 8 shall apply to the measure in question. The relevant implementing rules may also be amended to reflect such measure, using transparent procedures in accordance with Article 43.
1.The Commission, the Agency, and the national aviation authorities shall exchange any information available to them in the context of the application of this Regulation and its implementing rules. Entities entrusted with the investigation of civil aviation accidents and incidents, or with the analysis of occurrences, are entitled to access to that information.
2.Without prejudice to the public's right of access to the Commission's documents as laid down in Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, the Commission shall adopt, in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 54(3), measures for the dissemination to interested parties on the Commission's own initiative of the information referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article. These measures, which may be generic or individual, shall be based on the need:
(a)to provide persons and organisations with the information they need to improve aviation safety;
(b)to limit the dissemination of information to what is strictly required for the purpose of its users, in order to ensure appropriate confidentiality of that information.
3.The national aviation authorities shall, according to their national legislation, take necessary measures to ensure appropriate confidentiality of the information received by them in application of paragraph 1.
4.In order to inform the public of the general safety level, a safety review shall be published annually by the Agency.