Opinion 05/2017

Amendments to Commission Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011

The objective of this Opinion is to address a safety and regulatory coordination issue related to flight crew licensing (FCL).

The main objective of this Opinion is to resolve any inconsistencies identified after the adoption of the FCL implementing rules. This is necessary to ensure that the European aviation regulatory system reflects the state of the art, and specifically the best practices developed in the Member States, in the field of pilot training, testing and checking. The specific objective of this Opinion is to maintain a high level of safety, to ensure harmonised implementation of Commission Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Aircrew Regulation’), and to consider at all levels the importance of General Aviation (GA) issues.

This Opinion proposes changes to the rule text of ‘Annex I — Part-FCL’, ‘Annex II — Conditions for the conversion of existing national licences and ratings for aeroplanes and helicopters’, and ‘Annex III — Conditions for the acceptance of licences issued by or on behalf of third countries’.

The proposed changes are expected to increase safety, reduce regulatory burden on Member States, improve harmonisation within the EASA Member States, ensure compliance with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) requirements, and improve proportionality of the rules for GA by applying the principles of the ‘General Aviation Road Map’.