Regulation (EU) 2015/340
This Part, set out in this Annex, establishes the requirements for the issue, revocation and suspension of student air traffic controller licences and air traffic controller licences, their associated ratings and endorsements, and the conditions of their validity and use.
ATCO.A.005 Application for the issue of licences, ratings and endorsements
Regulation (EU) 2015/340
(a) An application for the issue of licences, ratings and endorsements shall be submitted to the competent authority in accordance with the procedure established by that authority.
(b) An application for the issue of further ratings or endorsements, for the revalidation or renewal of endorsements and for the reissue of the licence shall be submitted to the competent authority which issued that licence.
(c) The licence shall remain the property of the person to whom it is issued, unless it is revoked by the competent authority. The licence holder shall sign the licence.
(d) The licence shall specify all relevant information related to the privileges that are granted by the licence and shall comply with the requirements in Appendix 1 of Annex II.
ATCO.A.010 Exchange of licences
(a) If the licence holder is to exercise the privileges of the licence in a Member State for which the competent authority is not the one that issued the licence, the licence holder shall submit an application to exchange his/her licence for a licence issued by the competent authority of the Member State where the privileges are to be exercised in accordance with the procedure established by this authority, except where otherwise foreseen in agreements concluded among the Member States. For this purpose, the authorities involved shall share all the relevant information needed to carry out the licence exchange according to the procedures referred to in ATCO.AR.B.001(c).
(b) For the purposes of the exchange and for exercising the privileges of the licence in a Member State other than that in which the licence was issued, the licence holder must fulfil the language proficiency requirements referred to in ATCO.B.030 established by the respective Member State.
(c) 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.
(d) Following the receipt of the new licence, the licence holder shall submit an application referred to in ATCO.A.005 together with his/her air traffic controller licence in order to get new ratings, rating endorsements, licence endorsements or unit endorsements.
(e) Following the exchange, the previously issued licence shall be returned to the authority that issued it.
ATCO.A.010 Application for change of competent authority
(a) If the licence holder is to exercise the privileges of a unit endorsement in a Member State of which the competent authority is not the one that issued the licence, the licence holder shall request a change of the competent authority to the competent authority of the Member State where those privileges are to be exercised in accordance with the procedure established by that authority. For this purpose, the competent authorities involved shall share all the relevant information needed to carry out the change of competent authority and licence exchange according to the procedures referred to in point ATCO.AR.B.001(c) and point ATCO.AR.D.003.
(b) In derogation to point (a) above, a change of the competent authority is not required when only synthetic training device instructor or assessor privileges are exercised in a synthetic training device environment or when privileges of a student air traffic controller licence are exercised.
(c) For the purposes of exercising the privileges of the licence in a Member State other than that in which the licence was issued, the licence holder must fulfil the language proficiency requirements referred to in point ATCO.B.030 established by the Member State where the privileges are to be exercised.
[applicable from 4 August 2024 - Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/893]
GM1 ATCO.A.010 Exchange of licences
ED Decision 2023/011/R
[applicable until 3 August 2024 - ED Decision 2015/010/R]
GM1 ATCO.A.010 Application for change of competent authority
[applicable from 4 August 2024 - ED Decision 2023/011/R]
RECOGNITION OF LICENCES AND CERTIFICATES
In accordance with Article 11 of Regulation (EC) No 216/2008, Member States shall recognise:
(a) air traffic controller and student air traffic controller licences, including their ratings, rating endorsements, on-the-job training instructor (OJTI), synthetic training device instructor (STDI) and assessor endorsements, as well as language proficiency endorsements and associated medical certificates issued by other Member States in accordance with this Regulation;
(b) certificates of air traffic controller training organisations, aero-medical examiners and aero-medical centres issued by other Member States in accordance with this Regulation; and
(c) certificates of completion of training courses issued by training organisations approved by other Member States leading to the grant of the ratings, endorsements and/or the student air traffic controller licence referred to in paragraph (a).
[applicable until 3 August 2024 - ED Decision 2023/011/R]
RECOGNITION OF LICENCES AND CERTIFICATES
Considering Article 67 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139, mutual recognition applies to:
(a) air traffic controller and student air traffic controller licences, including their ratings, rating endorsements, on-the-job training instructor (OJTI), synthetic training device instructor (STDI) and assessor endorsements, as well as language proficiency endorsements and associated medical certificates issued by Member States in accordance with this Regulation;
(b) certificates of air traffic controller training organisations, aero-medical examiners and aero-medical centres issued by Member States in accordance with this Regulation; and
(c) certificates of completion of training courses issued by training organisations approved by Member States leading to the grant of the ratings, endorsements and/or the student air traffic controller licence referred to in point (a).
[applicable from 4 August 2024 - ED Decision 2023/011/R]
GM1 ATCO.A.010(a) Exchange of licences
ED Decision 2023/011/R
EXERCISE OF PRIVILEGES OF THE LICENCE IN A DIFFERENT MEMBER STATE
(a) Licences should only be exchanged in cases there is certainty that the licence holder is going to exercise the privileges of the licence in a different Member State other than that in which the licence was issued.
(b) For this purpose, and with the intention of preventing unnecessary administrative burden, the competent authorities may require the licence holder, together with the application for exchange, to prove that he/she is going to receive unit training by an approved training organisation that truly permits him/her to exercise the privileges of the licence in that Member State.
[applicable until 3 August 2024 - ED Decision 2015/010/R]
GM2 ATCO.A.010(a) Exchange of licences
ED Decision 2023/011/R
[applicable until 3 August 2024 - ED Decision 2015/010/R]
GM1 ATCO.A.010(a) Application for change of competent authority
[applicable from 4 August 2024 - ED Decision 2023/011/R]
EXERCISE OF PRIVILEGES OF THE LICENCE IN TWO OR MORE MEMBER STATES
In cases where privileges are exercised in two or more Member States, the agreement concluded amongst the Member States concerned should define the allocation of tasks and the responsibilities related to licensing.
GM1 ATCO.A.010(b) Application for change of competent authority
ED Decision 2023/011/R
EXERCISE OF STUDENT AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER PRIVILEGES
The privileges of a student air traffic controller licence may also be exercised by an air traffic controller that undertakes training for a new unit endorsement.
[applicable from 4 August 2024 - ED Decision 2023/011/R]
AMC1 ATCO.A.010(b);(c) Application for change of competent authority
ED Decision 2023/011/R
EXERCISE OF LICENCE PRIVILEGES AND LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY REQUIREMENTS
According to point ATCO.B.030(a), air traffic controllers and student air traffic controllers should not exercise the privileges of their licences unless they have a valid language proficiency endorsement in the language(s) imposed by their Member State.
If such local language requirements are imposed, the change of competent authority and the resulting exchange of licence should take place before the start of the on-the-job training to enter the new language proficiency endorsement.
The exercise of synthetic training device instructor (STDI) and assessor privileges in a synthetic training device environment in a Member State whose competent authority is not the one that has issued the licence, should be limited to exercises and assessments conducted in the English language, unless the STDI or assessor holds a language proficiency endorsement in the language imposed by the Member State where the privileges are exercised.
[applicable from 4 August 2024 - ED Decision 2023/011/R]
ATCO.A.015 Exercise of the privileges of licences and provisional inability
Regulation (EU) 2023/893
(a) The exercise of the privileges granted by a licence shall be dependent on the validity of the ratings, endorsements and of the medical certificate.
(b) Licence holders shall not exercise the privileges of their licence when having doubts of being able to safely exercise the privileges of the licence and shall in such cases immediately notify the relevant air navigation service provider of the provisional inability to exercise the privileges of their licence.
(c) Air navigation service providers may declare the provisional inability of the licence holder if they become aware of any doubt concerning the ability of the licence holder to safely exercise the privileges of the licence.
(d) Air navigation service providers shall develop and implement objective, transparent and non-discriminatory procedures to enable licence holders declaring provisional inability to exercise the privileges of their licence in accordance with point (b), to declare the provisional inability of the licence holder in accordance with point (c), to manage the operational impact of provisional inability cases and to inform the competent authority as defined in that procedure.
(e) The procedures referred to in point (d) shall be included in the unit competence scheme according to ATCO.B.025(a)(13).
[applicable until 3 August 2024 - Regulation (EU) 2015/340]
(a) The exercise of the privileges granted by a licence shall be dependent on the ratings and rating endorsements, validity of the unit and licence endorsements, and of the medical certificate, unless the medical certificate is not required in accordance with point (b).
(b) The medical certificate is not required when exercising instructor or assessor privileges in a synthetic training device environment.
(c) Licence holders shall not exercise the privileges of their licence when having doubts about being able to safely exercise the privileges of the licence and shall in such cases immediately notify the relevant air navigation service provider of the provisional inability to exercise the privileges of their licence.
(d) Air navigation service providers may declare the provisional inability of the licence holder if they become aware of any doubt concerning the ability of the licence holder to safely exercise the privileges of the licence.
(e) Air navigation service providers shall develop and implement objective, transparent and non-discriminatory procedures to enable licence holders declaring provisional inability to exercise the privileges of their licence in accordance with point (c), to declare the provisional inability of the licence holder in accordance with point (d), and to inform the competent authority as defined in that procedure.
(f) The procedures referred to in point (e) shall be included in the unit competence scheme according to point ATCO.B.025(a)(13).
[applicable from 4 August 2024 - Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/893]
GM1 ATCO.A.015(b) Exercise of the privileges of licences and provisional inability
ED Decision 2023/011/R
[applicable until 3 August 2024 - ED Decision 2015/010/R]
GM1 ATCO.A.015(b);(c) Exercise of the privileges of licences and provisional inability
[applicable from 4 August 2024 - ED Decision 2023/011/R]
GROUNDS FOR PROVISIONAL INABILITY
Examples of grounds for doubting the ability to safely exercise the privileges of the licence may be that the licence holder is:
(a) under the influence of psychoactive substances;
(b) unfit to perform the duties due to injury, fatigue, sickness, stress, including critical incident stress or other similar causes;
(c) not meeting all the competence-related requirements set out in the unit competence scheme.
[applicable until 3 August 2024 - ED Decision 2023/011/R]
(a) Examples of grounds for doubting the ability to safely exercise the privileges of the licence may be that the licence holder is:
(1) under the influence of psychoactive substances;
(2) unable to perform the duties due to injury, fatigue, sickness, stress, including critical incident stress or other similar causes;
(3) not meeting all the competence-related requirements set out in the unit competence scheme.
(b) Provisional inability based on the grounds referred to in points (a)(1) and (a)(2) is meant to cover only short periods of time (for example: generally before the next scheduled duty period, but no longer than 7 days) with the aim of allowing the affected air traffic controller to consult an aero-medical examiner regarding the doubts about being able to safely exercise the privileges of their licence.
In such cases, the provisional inability may only remain applicable until a medical review is performed by an aero-medical examiner.
[applicable from 4 August 2024 - ED Decision 2023/011/R]
GM1 ATCO.A.015(c) Exercise of the privileges of licences and provisional inability
ED Decision 2015/010/R
In case of doubt about the medical condition of the air traffic controller, the provisions of ATCO.MED.A.020 should apply.
GM1 ATCO.A.015(d) Exercise of the privileges of licences and provisional inability
ED Decision 2023/011/R
PROCEDURES
The procedures developed and implemented to enable licence holders declaring provisional inability to exercise the privileges of their licence, to manage the operational impact of provisional inability cases and to inform the competent authority should include but are not limited to:
(a) the processes to declare and terminate provisional inability;
(b) an indicative list of cases when the competent authority shall be informed of the declaration or termination of the provisional inability;
(c) the processes to inform the competent authority; and
(d) the mitigating measures to be implemented to ensure sufficient capacity and the continuity of the service.
[applicable until 3 August 2024 - ED Decision 2015/010/R]
PROCEDURES
The procedures developed and implemented to enable licence holders declaring provisional inability to exercise the privileges of their licence and to inform the competent authority should include but are not limited to:
(a) the processes to declare and terminate provisional inability;
(b) an indicative list of cases when the competent authority shall be informed of the declaration or termination of the provisional inability; and
(c) the processes to inform the competent authority.
[applicable from 4 August 2024 - ED Decision 2023/011/R]
ATCO.A.020 Revocation and suspension of licences, ratings and endorsements
Regulation (EU) 2015/340
(a) Licences, ratings and endorsements may be suspended or revoked by the competent authority according to ATCO.AR.D.005 when the licence holder does not comply with the requirements of this Part.
(b) When the licence holder has his/her licence revoked, he/she shall immediately return the licence to the competent authority according to the administrative procedures established by that authority.
(c) With the issue of the air traffic controller licence the student air traffic controller licence is revoked and shall be returned to the competent authority which is issuing the air traffic controller licence.