THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 216/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 February 2008 on common rules in the field of civil aviation and establishing a European Aviation Safety Agency, and repealing Council Directive 91/670/EEC, Regulation (EC) No 1592/2002 and Directive 2004/36/EC(1), and in particular Article 8(5) thereof,
Whereas:
(1) Commission Regulation (EU) No 965/2012(2) establishes conditions for the safe operation of aircraft.
(2) Incorrect aeronautical data or information being fed into airborne aircraft systems can pose significant risks to flight safety. It should therefore be ensured that data services providers process aeronautical data and information in a way that guarantees their quality and meets the requirements set by aircraft manufacturers for the airspace end-users' intended use.
(3) Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 requires a specific approval for all performance-based navigation (‘PBN’) operations, except for some basic navigational methods. Cases requiring specific approval should be significantly reduced in order to alleviate the unnecessary economic and administrative burden on the general aviation operators, taking into account the experience and maturity already reached in approach operations utilising the global navigation satellite system (‘GNSS’), and in order to ensure consistency with the latest international safety standards.
(4) In order to facilitate compliance by the operators with the rules related to transport of dangerous goods as well as those related to upper torso restraint systems on flight crew seats and on passenger seats of certain small aeroplanes, and thus to improve safety, it is necessary to adapt those rules to the type of operation and to the complexity of aircraft used.
(5) Pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 965/2012, certain small non-commercial operators must establish a management system within their organisation because they operate complex motor-powered aircraft. However, in certain cases, such as in the non-commercial operation of lighter twin-turboprop aeroplanes, those operators may have difficulties in implementing the management system requirements contained in Annex III to that Regulation. As the compliance effort that is required of such operators is disproportionate to the benefits that implementing those requirements bring to the safety of their operations, those operators should be excluded from the scope of Annex VI to Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 and, instead, be allowed to comply with the requirements set out in its Annex VII. For consistency, training organisations which conduct flight training on the same lighter twin-turboprop aeroplanes should also be allowed to comply with the requirements set out in its Annex VII.
(6) Annex VII to Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 requires carrying and using oxygen when flying above a fixed pressure altitude. Based on the principle of risk differentiation, whereby the level of regulatory protection afforded to stakeholders depends on their ability to assess and control risks, the need of oxygen in non-pressurised aircraft engaged in non-commercial operations should be determined by the pilot of such aircraft, taking into account certain objective factors.
(7) Helicopter offshore operations (‘HOFO’) pose certain specific safety risks which are not adequately addressed by Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 as it stands. Some Member States therefore adopt additional requirements, including the mandatory use of new technologies, to mitigate such risks and maintain safety levels. However, in order to ensure that the safety objectives of Regulation (EC) No 216/2008 are achieved and in order to guarantee a level playing field for air operators, common safety measures should be established at Union level, taking into account the experience at national level as well as the developments in the sector of helicopter offshore operations.
(8) Certain editorial errors leading to implementation difficulties have also been identified in Regulation (EU) No 965/2012.
(9) Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 should therefore be amended and corrected accordingly.
(10) It is necessary to provide sufficient time for the operators concerned and the competent authorities of the Member States to adjust to the new rules on aeronautical data and information and on helicopter offshore operations provided for in this Regulation.
(11) The Commission intends to revise the rules related to balloons and sailplanes set out in Regulation (EU) No 965/2012, in the context of the initiative for simpler, lighter and better legislation on civil aviation. The preparatory work for that revision is currently ongoing. The date of application of those rules should therefore now be adapted so as to ensure that that revision can be completed and those rules can be amended where necessary before they start to apply.
(12) In the interest of legal clarity and harmonised implementation of the common requirements throughout the Union there should be fixed dates of application of those requirements, either immediately upon entry into force or at a future time. The transitional measures and tasks to be duly implemented by all Member States should be included in the legal act, so as to avoid legal concerns and uncertainty. The possibility to use opt-outs as provided for in some Commission implementing regulations in the field of aviation safety should be restricted to duly justified cases, where it is absolutely necessary, and a predictable and transparent system should be employed, instead. It is therefore imperative that Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 is amended to account for these considerations.
(13) The measures provided for in this Regulation are based on the opinions(3) issued by the European Aviation Safety Agency in accordance with Article 17(2)(b) and Article 19(1) of Regulation (EC) No 216/2008.
(14) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee established by Article 65 of Regulation (EC) No 216/2008,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Commission Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 of 5 October 2012 laying down technical requirements and administrative procedures related to air operations pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 216/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 296, 25.10.2012, p. 1).
European Aviation Safety Agency Opinion No 02/2015 of 12.3.2015 for a Commission Regulation establishing technical requirements and operating procedures for the provision of data to airspace users for the purpose of air navigation; European Aviation Safety Agency Opinion No 03/2015 of 31.3.2015 for a Commission Regulation on revision of operational approval criteria for Performance Based Navigation (PBN); European Aviation Safety Agency Opinion No 04/2015 of 8.5.2015 for a Commission Regulation on specific approval for helicopter offshore operations.