COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 593/2007
of 31 May 2007
on the fees and charges levied by the European Aviation Safety Agency
(Text with EEA relevance)
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 1592/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 July 2002 on common rules in the field of civil aviation and establishing a European Aviation Safety Agency (1), and in particular Article 53(1) thereof,
After consulting the Management Board of the European Aviation Safety Agency,
Whereas:
(1)
Commission Regulation (EC) No 488/2005 (2) established the fees and charges to be levied by the European Aviation Safety Agency (hereinafter ‘the Agency’).
(2)
The revenues of the Agency, consist of a contribution from the Community and from any European third country which has entered into the agreements referred to in Article 55 of Regulation (EC) No 1592/2002, of the fees paid by applicants for certificates and approvals issued, maintained or amended by the Agency, and of charges for publications, handling of appeals, training and any other service provided by the Agency.
(3)
The Agency’s revenue and expenditure should be in balance.
(4)
Fees and charges referred to in this Regulation should be demanded and levied by the Agency only and in euro. They should be set in a transparent, fair and uniform manner.
(5)
The fees levied by the Agency should not jeopardize the competitiveness of the European industries concerned. Furthermore, they should be established on a basis which takes due account of the ability of small undertakings to pay.
(6)
While civil aviation safety should be the prime concern, the Agency should nevertheless take full account of cost efficiency when conducting the tasks incumbent on it.
(7)
The geographical location of the undertakings in the territories of the Member States should not be a discriminatory factor. Consequently, the travel costs related to the certification tasks carried out on behalf of such undertakings should be aggregated and divided between the applicants.
(8)
The applicant should be informed, as far as possible, of the foreseeable amount to be paid for the service which will be provided and the way in which payment must be made before provision of the service starts. The criteria for determining the amount to be paid should be clear, uniform and public. Where it is impossible to determine this amount in advance, the applicant should be informed accordingly before provision of the service starts. In such a case, clear rules for assessing the amount to be paid during the provision of the service should be agreed before it is provided.
(9)
The industry should enjoy good financial visibility and be able to anticipate the cost of the fees it will be required to pay. At the same time, it is necessary to ensure a balance between overall expenditure incurred by the Agency in carrying out certification tasks and overall income from the fees it levies. It should therefore be possible to review the levels of fees annually on the basis of the Agency’s financial results and forecasts.
(10)
Interested parties should be consulted prior to any modification of fees. Moreover, the Agency should regularly provide interested parties with information on how and on what basis the fees are calculated. Such information should provide interested parties with an insight into the costs incurred by the Agency and its productivity.
(11)
The tariffs set out in this Regulation should be based on Agency's forecasts as regards its workload and related costs.
(12)
This Regulation should be reviewed within five years from its entry into force.
(13)
Regulation (EC) No 488/2005 should be repealed.
(14)
The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee established by Article 54(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1592/2002,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
CHAPTER I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1
This Regulation shall apply to the fees and charges levied by the European Aviation Safety Agency, hereinafter ‘the Agency’, as compensation for the services it provides, including the supply of goods.
It determines in particular the matters for which fees and charges referred to in Article 48(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1592/2002 are due, the amount of those fees and charges and the way in which they are to be paid.
Article 2
For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions shall apply:
(a)
‘fees’ means the amounts levied by the Agency and payable by applicants to obtain, maintain or amend the certificates referred to in Article 15 of Regulation (EC) No 1592/2002 which are issued, maintained or amended by the Agency;
(b)
‘charges’ means the amounts levied by the Agency and payable by applicants for services other than certification tasks, provided by the Agency;
(c)
‘certification tasks’ means all activities carried out by the Agency directly or indirectly for the purposes of issuing, maintaining or amending the certificates referred to in Article 15 of Regulation (EC) No 1592/2002;
(d)
‘applicant’ means any natural or legal person requesting to benefit from a service provided by the Agency, including the issue, maintenance or amendment of a certificate;
(e)
‘travel costs’ means the transport costs, the costs of accommodation and meals, the incidental expenses and the travel allowances paid to staff in the context of certification tasks;
(f)
‘real cost’ means the expenditure actually incurred by the Agency.
CHAPTER II
FEES
Article 3
1. The fees shall ensure a total revenue which is sufficient to cover all the costs arising out of the certification tasks, including costs arising from the related continuing oversight.
2. The Agency shall distinguish among its revenue and expenditure those which are attributable to certification tasks. For this purpose:
(a)
the fees levied by the Agency shall be kept in a separate account and shall be the subject of a separate accounting procedure;
(b)
the Agency shall draw up analytical accounts of its revenue and expenditure.
3. The fees shall be the subject of an overall provisional estimate by the beginning of each financial year. This estimate shall be based on the Agency’s previous financial results, its estimate of expenditure and revenue and its forward working plan.
If at the end of a financial year the overall revenue from fees, which constitute an assigned revenue in accordance with Article 53 of Regulation (EC) No 1592/2002, exceeds the overall cost of certification tasks, the excess shall be used to finance certification tasks in accordance with the Financial regulation of the Agency.
Article 4
The fee to be paid by the applicant for a given certification task shall consist of:
(a)
a flat amount which shall vary according to the task concerned in order to reflect the cost incurred by the Agency in carrying out this task. The different amounts of the flat fee are set out in Parts I and III of the Annex; or
(b)
a variable amount proportional to the workload involved, expressed as a number of hours multiplied by the hourly fee. The hourly fee shall reflect all costs arising from certification tasks. The certification tasks which are charged on an hourly basis as well as the applicable hourly fee are specified in Part II of the Annex.
Article 5
1. The amounts set out in the Annex shall be published in the Agency’s official publication.
2. These amounts shall be annually indexed to the inflation rate set out in Part V of the Annex.
3. The Annex shall be revised annually if necessary.
4. The Agency shall provide the Commission, the Management Board and the advisory body of interested parties established in accordance with Article 24 of Regulation (EC) No 1592/2002 annually with information on the components serving as a basis for determining the level of the fees. This information shall notably consist in a cost breakdown related to previous and next years. The Agency shall also provide the Commission, the Management Board and the advisory body of interested parties, twice per year, with the performance information set out in Part VI of the Annex and the performance indicators referred to in paragraph 5.
5. Within six months from the entry into force of this Regulation the Agency shall, after consulting the advisory body of interested parties, adopt a set of performance indicators taking notably into account the information listed in Part VI of the Annex.
6. The Agency shall consult the advisory body of interested parties before giving an opinion on any change in the fees. During this consultation, the Agency shall explain the reasons for any proposal for modifying the level of fees.
Article 6
Without prejudice to Article 4, where a certification task is conducted, fully or in part, outside the territories of the Member States, the fee invoiced to the applicant shall include the corresponding travel costs outside those territories, according to the formula:
d = f + v
where:
d
=
fee due
f
=
fee corresponding to the task carried out, as set out in the Annex
v
=
additional travel costs, at real cost
The additional travel costs invoiced to the applicant shall include the time spent by experts in the means of transport outside the territories of the Member States. The relevant number of hours shall be invoiced at the hourly fee.
Article 7
At the request of the applicant and with the agreement of the Executive Director of the Agency, a certification task may exceptionally be carried out as follows:
(a)
by assigning categories of staff to it which the Agency would not normally assign to it under its standard procedures, and/or
(b)
by assigning such human resources to it that the operation is performed faster than under the Agency’s standard procedures.
In such a case, an exceptional increase shall be applied to the fee levied in order to cover all of the costs incurred by the Agency in meeting the special request.
Article 8
1. The fee shall be payable by the applicant. It shall be payable in EUR. The applicant shall ensure that the Agency is paid the full amount due. Possible bank charges related to the payment shall be paid by the applicant.
2. The issue, maintenance or amendment of a certificate shall be subject to prior payment of the full amount of the fee due, unless agreed differently between the Agency and the applicant. In the event of non payment, the Agency may revoke the relevant certificate after having given formal warning to the applicant.
3. Amounts less than or equal to EUR 1 000 shall be paid when the application is filled, in one instalment.
4. The scale of fees applied by the Agency and the terms of payment shall be communicated to applicants when they submit their applications.
5. For all certification tasks which give rise to the payment of fees calculated on an hourly basis, the Agency may, on request, provide the applicant with an estimate. The estimate shall be amended by the Agency if it appears that the task is simpler or can be carried out faster than initially foreseen or, on the contrary, if it is more complex and takes longer to carry out than the Agency could reasonably have foreseen.
6. If, after a first check, the Agency decides not to accept an application, any fees already paid shall be returned to the applicant, with the exception of an amount to cover the administrative costs of handling the application. That amount shall be equivalent to two times the hourly fee set out in Part II of the Annex.
7. If a certification task has to be interrupted by the Agency because the applicant has insufficient resources or fails to comply with the applicable requirements, or because the applicant decides to abandon its application or to postpone its project, the balance of any fees due, calculated on an hourly basis but not exceeding the applicable flat fee, shall be payable in full at the time the Agency stops working. The relevant number of hours shall be invoiced at the hourly fee set out in Part II of the Annex. When, on demand of the applicant, the Agency starts again a certification tasks previously interrupted, this task shall be charged as a new project.
Article 9
The fees shall be demanded and levied by the Agency only.
Member States shall not levy fees for certification tasks, even if they carry out those tasks on behalf of the Agency.
The Agency shall reimburse the Member States for the certification tasks they provide on its behalf.
CHAPTER III
CHARGES
Article 10
1. Charges shall be levied by the Agency for all services, including the supply of goods, other than those referred to in Article 3.
However, the following shall be free of charge:
(a)
the transmission of documents and information, in whatever form, pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3);
(b)
the documents available free of charge on the Agency website.
2. Charges shall also be levied by the Agency when an appeal is lodged against one of its decisions pursuant to Article 35 of Regulation (EC) No 1592/2002.
Article 11
The amount of the charges levied by the Agency shall be equal to the real cost of the service provided, including the cost of making it available to the applicant. To that end, the time spent by the Agency to provide the service shall be invoiced at the hourly fee referred to in Part II of the Annex.
The charges payable when an appeal is lodged pursuant to Article 35 of Regulation (EC) No 1592/2002 shall take the form of a fixed-rate sum, as specified in Part IV of the Annex. If the appeal is concluded in favour of the person lodging the appeal, the fixed-rate sum shall be automatically refunded by the Agency to that person.
The amount of the charges shall be communicated to the applicant before the service is provided, together with the terms for the payment of the charges.
Article 12
The charges shall be payable by the applicant or, in the case of an appeal, by the natural or legal person lodging the appeal.
They shall be payable in EUR.
The applicant shall ensure that the Agency is paid the full amount due. Possible bank charges related to the payment shall be paid by the applicant.
Unless otherwise agreed between the Agency and the applicant or the natural or legal person lodging an appeal, the charges shall be levied before the service is provided or, where appropriate, before the appeal procedure is launched.
Amounts less than or equal to EUR 1 000 shall be paid on the date the application is filled, or the appeal lodged, in one instalment.
CHAPTER IV
TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 13
Regulation (EC) No 488/2005 is repealed.
Article 14
1. This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 June 2007. It shall apply subject to the following conditions:
(a)
The fees shown in Tables 1 to 5 of Part I of the Annex shall apply to any certificate issued after 1 June 2007.
(b)
The fees shown in Table 6 of Part I of the Annex shall apply to the annual fees levied after 1 June 2007.
(c)
For applicants that have been charged the surveillance fee referred to in point (vi) of the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 488/2005 prior to 1 June 2007, the fees shown in Table 7 of Part I of the Annex shall apply from the first annual instalment due after the end of the 3 years period referred to in point (vi) of the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 488/2005.
(d)
For applicants that have been charged the surveillance fees referred to in points (viii), (x), (xiii) or (xi) of the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 488/2005 prior to 1 June 2007, the surveillance fees shown in, respectively, Tables 8, 9 and 10 of Part I, and in paragraph 2 of Part III, of the Annex to this Regulation shall apply as from the first annual instalment due after the end of the 2 years periods referred to in points (viii), (x) and (xiii) of the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 488/2005.
2. Notwithstanding Article 13, Regulation (EC) No 488/2005 shall continue to apply with respect to any fees and charges that are outside the scope of application of this Regulation in accordance with paragraph 1.
3. This Regulation shall be reviewed within five years from its entry into force.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 31 May 2007.