COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1356/2008
of 23 December 2008
amending Regulation (EC) No 593/2007 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 216/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 February 2008 on common rules in the field of civil aviation and establishing a European Aviation Safety Agency, and repealing Council Directive 91/670/EEC, Regulation (EC) No 1592/2002 and Directive 2004/36/EC (1), and in particular Article 64(1) thereof,
After consulting the Management Board of the European Aviation Safety Agency,
Whereas:
(1)
The rules for calculating the fees and charges laid down in Commission Regulation (EC) No 593/2007 of 31 May 2007 on the fees and charges levied by the European Aviation Safety Agency (2) have to be reviewed periodically to ensure that the amount of the fees and charges to be paid by the applicant reflects the complexity of the task carried out by the Agency and the actual workload involved. Future amendments to that Regulation will fine tune those rules, also on the basis of the data which will become available inside the European Aviation Safety Agency (hereinafter ‘the Agency’) following the implementation of its Enterprise Resource Planning system.
(2)
Agreements referred to in Article 12(1) of Regulation (EC) No 216/2008 should provide a basis for the evaluation of the actual workload involved in the certification of third countries’ products. In principle, the process for validation by the Agency of certificates issued by a third country with which the Community has an appropriate agreement is described in these agreements and should result in a different workload from the process required for certification activities by the Agency.
(3)
While ensuring the balance between overall expenditure incurred by the Agency in carrying out certification tasks and overall income from the fees and charges it levies, the rules for calculating the fees and charges have to remain effective and fair towards all applicants. This must be true also for the calculation of travel costs outside the territory of the Member States. The present formula has to be refined to make sure that it refers exclusively to the direct costs incurred for those travels.
(4)
The experience gained from the application of Regulation (EC) No 593/2007 has shown that it is necessary to specify when the Agency may invoice the fee due and to set up the method to calculate the amount to be refunded in case a certification task is interrupted. Similar rules have to be provided in case a certificate is surrendered or suspended.
(5)
For technical reasons, changes should be introduced in the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 593/2007 in order to enhance some definitions or classifications.
(6)
Regulation (EC) No 593/2007 should therefore be amended accordingly.
(7)
The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee established by Article 65 of Regulation (EC) No 216/2008,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
Regulation (EC) No 593/2007 is amended as follows:
1.
Article 6 is replaced by the following:
‘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 + h - e
where:
d
=
fee due
f
=
fee corresponding to the task carried out, as set out in the Annex
v
=
travel costs
h
=
time spent by experts in the means of transport, invoiced at the hourly fee set out in Part II
e
=
average travel costs inside the territories of the Member States, including the average time spent in the means of transport inside the territories of the Member States multiplied by the hourly fee set out in Part II.’
2.
Article 8 is amended as follows:
(a)
paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:
‘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. The Agency may invoice the fee in one instalment after having received the application or at the start of the annual or surveillance period. In the event of non-payment, the Agency may refuse to issue or may revoke the relevant certificate after having given formal warning to the applicant.’;
(b)
paragraph 3 is deleted;
(c)
paragraph 7 is replaced by the following:
‘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 for the ongoing period of twelve months but not exceeding the applicable flat fee, shall be payable in full at the time the Agency stops working, together with any other amounts due at that time. 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 task previously interrupted, this task shall be charged as a new project.’;
(d)
the following paragraphs 8 and 9 are added:
‘8. If the certificate holder surrenders the corresponding certificate or the Agency revokes the certificate, 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 surrender or revocation takes place, together with any other amounts due at that time. The relevant number of hours shall be invoiced at the hourly fee set out in Part II of the Annex.
9. If the Agency suspends a certificate, the balance of any fees due, calculated on a pro-rata temporis basis shall be payable in full at the time of the suspension, together with any other amounts due at that time. If the certificate is subsequently re-instated, a new period of twelve months shall start on the date of re-instatement.’
3.
In Article 12, the fifth paragraph is deleted.
4.
In Article 14, paragraph 3 is deleted.
5.
The Annex is amended in accordance with the Annex to this Regulation
Article 2
This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 2009.
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 application for certification task received after 1 January 2009;
(b)
the fees shown in Table 6 of Part I of the Annex shall apply to the annual fees levied after 1 January 2009.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 23 December 2008.