Regulation (EU) 2023/893
(a) The competent authority shall verify:
(1) compliance with requirements applicable to organisations or persons prior to the issue of an organisation certificate or personnel licence, certificate, rating or endorsement, as applicable;
(2) the continued compliance with the applicable requirements and the conditions attached to the training organisation's certificate, as well as the applicable requirements for training courses, plans and schemes it has approved and requirements applicable to personnel;
(3) implementation of appropriate safety measures mandated by the competent authority as defined in ATCO.AR.A.025(c) and (d).
[applicable until 3 August 2024 - Regulation (EU) 2015/340]
(a) The competent authority shall verify:
(1) compliance with requirements applicable to organisations or persons prior to the issue of an organisation certificate or personnel licence, certificate, rating or endorsement, as applicable;
(2) the continued compliance with the applicable requirements and the conditions attached to the training organisation’s certificate, as well as the applicable requirements for training courses, training plans and unit competence schemes it has approved, and requirements applicable to personnel;
(3) implementation of appropriate safety measures mandated by the competent authority as defined in point ATCO.AR.A.025 (c) and (d).
[applicable from 4 August 2024 - Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/893]
(b) This verification shall:
(1) be supported by documentation specifically intended to provide guidance to the personnel responsible for safety oversight in order to perform their functions;
(2) provide persons and organisations concerned with the results of the safety oversight activity;
(3) be based on audits and inspections including, as appropriate, unannounced inspections; and
(4) provide the competent authority with the evidence needed in case further action is required, including the measures foreseen in ATCO.AR.C.010 and ATCO.AR.E.015.
(c) The scope of oversight shall be determined on the basis of the scope and results of past oversight activities and safety priorities.
(d) Without prejudice to the competencies of the Member States, the scope and results of oversight of activities performed in the territory of a Member State by persons or organisations established or residing in another Member State shall be determined on the basis of the safety priorities, as well as past oversight activities.
(e) Where the activity of a person or organisation involves more than one Member State, the competent authority responsible for the oversight according to points (a) to (c) may agree to specific alternative oversight arrangements with the other competent authority(ies). Any person or organisation subject to such agreement shall be informed of its existence and of its scope.
(f) With regard to the certification and oversight of the organisation’s compliance with point ATCO.OR.C.001A, in addition to complying with points (a) to (e), the competent authority shall review any approval granted under point IS.I.OR.200(e) of this Regulation or point IS.D.OR.200(e) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/1645 following the applicable oversight audit cycle and whenever changes are implemented in the scope of work of the organisation.
[applicable from 22 February 2026 – Regulation (EU) 2023/203]
ATCO.AR.D.003 Change of competent authority
Regulation (EU) 2023/893
(a) Upon receiving a licence holder’s request for a change of competent authority, the receiving competent authority shall, without undue delay, request the competent authority of the licence holder to transfer, without undue delay all of the following:
(1) a verification of the licence;
(2) copies of the licence holder’s medical records kept by that competent authority. The medical records shall be transferred in a confidential manner in accordance with point ATCO.MED.A.015 of Annex IV (Part-ATCO.MED) and shall include a summary of the relevant medical history of the applicant, verified and signed or electronically authenticated by the medical assessor.
(b) The transferring competent authority shall keep the licence holder’s original licensing and medical records.
(c) The receiving competent authority shall, without undue delay, exchange the licence and medical certificate provided that it has received and processed all documents specified in point (a). Upon the exchange of the licence and medical certificate, the receiving competent authority shall immediately request the licence holder to surrender to it the licence issued by the transferring competent authority and the associated medical certificate.
(d) The new licence shall include ratings, rating endorsements, licence endorsements and all valid unit endorsements in the licence, including the date of their first issue and expiry, if applicable.
(e) The receiving competent authority shall immediately notify the transferring competent authority once it has exchanged the licence and medical certificate and the licence holder has surrendered the licence and medical certificate pursuant to point (c). Until such a notification is received, the transferring competent authority remains responsible for the licence and the medical certificate originally issued to that licence holder.
[applicable from 4 August 2024 - Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/893]
ATCO.AR.C.005 Oversight programme
Regulation (EU) 2015/340
(a) The competent authority shall establish and maintain an oversight programme covering the oversight activities required by ATCO.AR.C.001.
(b) For organisations certified by the competent authority the oversight programme shall be developed taking into account the specific nature of the organisation, the complexity of its activities and past certification and/or oversight activities. It shall include within each oversight planning cycle:
(1) audits and inspections, if needed, including unannounced inspections as appropriate; and
(2) meetings convened between the management of the training organisation and the competent authority to ensure that both remain informed of significant issues.
(c) For organisations certified by the competent authority an oversight planning cycle not exceeding 24 months shall be applied.
The oversight planning cycle may be reduced if there is evidence that the safety performance of the organisation has decreased.
The oversight planning cycle may be extended to a maximum of 36 months if the competent authority has established that during the previous 24 months:
(1) the organisation has demonstrated an effective identification of aviation safety hazards and management of associated risks; and
(2) the organisation has continuously demonstrated under ATCO.OR.B.015 that it has full control over all changes; and
(3) no level 1 findings have been issued; and
(4) all corrective actions have been implemented within the time period accepted or extended by the competent authority as defined in ATCO.AR.E.015.
The oversight planning cycle may be further extended to a maximum of 48 months if, in addition to the above, the organisation has established, and the competent authority has approved, an effective continuous reporting system to the competent authority on the safety performance and regulatory compliance of the organisation itself.
(d) The oversight programme for training organisations shall include the monitoring of training standards including the sampling of training delivery if appropriate.
(e) For persons holding a licence, rating or endorsement issued by the competent authority the oversight programme shall include inspections, including unannounced inspections, if appropriate.
AMC1 ATCO.AR.C.005 Oversight programme
ED Decision 2023/011/R
AUDIT AND INSPECTION
(a) The audit and inspection of a certified training organisation should be conducted through checking of the facility for compliance, interviewing personnel and sampling relevant training courses to assess their conduct and standard.
(b) Such audit and inspection should focus in addition to the items of AMC1 ATCO.AR.E.010 on:
(1) information on the competence of instructors and assessors;
(2) evidence of sufficient funding;
(3) adequacy of the facilities to the courses being conducted and to the number of persons undertaking training;
(4) synthetic training devices;
(5) documentation, in particular documents related to courses, information on the updating system, training and operations manual;
(6) training records and forms.
[applicable until 3 August 2024 - ED Decision 2015/010/R]
(b) Such audit and inspection should focus in addition to the items of AMC1 ATCO.AR.E.001(a) on:
(1) information on the competence of instructors and assessors;
(2) evidence of sufficient funding;
(3) adequacy of the facilities to the courses being conducted and to the number of persons undertaking training;
(4) synthetic training devices;
(5) documentation, in particular documents related to courses, information on the updating system, training and operations manual;
(6) training records and forms.
[applicable from 4 August 2024 - ED Decision 2023/011/R]
ATCO.AR.C.010 Findings and enforcement measures for personnel
Regulation (EU) 2015/340
(a) If during oversight or by any other means evidence is found by the competent authority responsible for the oversight in accordance with ATCO.AR.C.001 that shows non-compliance with the applicable requirements by a person holding a licence issued in accordance with this Regulation, the competent authority shall raise a finding, record it and communicate it in writing to the licence holder, as well as communicate the finding to the employing organisation, if applicable.
(b) When the competent authority that raised the finding is the competent authority responsible for the issuing of the licence:
(1) it may suspend or revoke the licence, rating or endorsement, as applicable, when a safety issue has been identified; and
(2) it shall take any further enforcement measures necessary to prevent the continuation of the non-compliance.
(c) When the competent authority that raised the finding is not the competent authority responsible for the issuing of the licence, it shall inform the competent authority that issued the licence. In this case, the competent authority that issued the licence shall take action in accordance with point (b) and inform the competent authority that raised the finding.