If a manufacturing company has several subsidiaries in several countries, is a DPO certificate expected for each of the subsidiaries or would there be a way to get an overall for the entire company?
Answer
Any natural or legal person who has demonstrated, or is set to demonstrate, their capability to design or produce ATM/ANS equipment, may apply for a design or production organisation approval under the conditions laid down in EU IR 2023/1769.
In this context, if the legal entity has formalized control over other legal entities (i.e., subsidiaries), then these subsidiaries can be covered by the DPO approval. For example, if the legal corporate entity (aka the “parent company”) submits an application as DPO, then it can choose to include subsidiary organisations under Section 2.3 “Additional Locations” on the DPO application form.
However, be aware that this is not simply a matter of legal definition on paper. The DPO applicant must demonstrate that all subsidiaries are also meeting the requirements needed for DPO approval (e.g., competencies, procedures, etc).
In accordance with ATM/ANS.EQMT.CERT.005 on Eligibility, any natural or legal person who has demonstrated, or is in the process of demonstrating (i.e. is an applicant), their design capability in accordance with point ATM/ANS.EQMT.CERT.010, may apply for the issuance of an ATM/ANS equipment certificate.
A DPO needs an organisation approval at latest by September 2028, but it could already apply now. Formally speaking, the certification process of an ATM/ANS equipment could be launched during the DPO approval process. However, it should be noted that the certificate of ATM/ANS equipment could be issued by EASA only after the DPO is approved. The same applies for an ATM/ANS equipment declaration of design compliance; the DPO could issue the declaration but only after the DPO approval is completed and issued.