NoC34/18 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 2.2.94
OpinionontheproposalforaCouncilDirectiveestablishingthefundamentalprinciples
governingtheinvestigationofcivilaviationaccidentsandincidents
(94/C34/07
On29September1993theCouncildecidedtoconsulttheEconomicandSocialCommittee,
underArticle84(2)oftheTreatyestablishingtheEuropeanEconomicCommunity,onthe
abovementioned proposal.
TheSectionforTransportandCommunications ,whichwasresponsibleforpreparingthe
Committee'sworkonthesubject,adopteditsOpinionon10November1993inthelightof
theReportbyMrMobbs.
Atits310thPlenarySession(meetingof24November1993)theEconomicandSocial
CommitteeadoptedthefollowingOpinionunanimously .
1.Introduction
1.1.International scene1.1.5.Inadditiontotheinvestigatingbody,those
whomayparticipateintheseinvestigations arefor
exampletheoperatorandthemanufacturer .
1.1.6.InFebruary1992anaccidentinvestigation
meetingwasheldinMontreal(AIG92)andproposed
changes;themainonesare:
—toextendthecoveragetoencourageinternational
cooperationduringtheinvestigationof'domestic'
accidents;
—toextendtheprovisionstocovertheinvestigation
ofseriousincidents;
—toenhancetheparticipationofaccreditedrepresen­
tativesandadvisersfromStatesofOperatorsand
StatesofManufactureintheinvestigationofaircraft
accidents;
—toclarifyandstrengthentheprovisionsrelevantto
theseparationofthetechnicalinvestigationfrom
thejudicialorlegalinvestigation .
1.1.7.Thesechangescoverimportantpointsmade
duringthemeetingnamely:
-—Thesoleobjectiveoftheinvestigationofanaccident
orincidentshallbethepreventionofaccidentsand
incidents.Itisnotthepurposeofthisactivityto
apportionblameorliability.
—Statesshouldestablishformalincidentreporting
systemstofacilitatecollectionofinformationon
actualorpotentialsafetydeficiencies .
BeforeAnnex13canbeformallyamended,ithastobe
submittedtotheICAOCouncilforapproval,whichis
expectedin1994(withinthetimescalefortheCom­
mission'sproposedeffectivedateof1January1996).1.1.1.Overtheyears,theworldofaviationhas
grownrapidlyandthevariouspracticescoveringthe
investigationofaccidentsandincidentshasevolved
differentlyintheCommunityStates.
1.1.2.TheInternationalCivilAviationOrganization
(ICAO),whichisanAgencyoftheUnitedNations,
wasestablishedundertheChicagoConventionof1944
astheworldbodytoberesponsibleforCivilAviation.
Over150StateshavesignedupasContractingStates,
includingallindividualCommunityStates.TheCom­
munityhasobserverstatus.
1.1.3.PracticesforAircraftAccidentInquirieswere
firstadoptedbyICAOinApril1951asAnnex13to
theChicagoConvention .
1.1.4.Responsibility forinstitutingandconducting
acivilaircraftaccidentinvestigation isclearlysetout
inChapter5ofAnnex13,brieflysummarizedas:
a)Whenanaccidenttakesplaceintheterritoryofa
ContractingStatetoaircraftofanotherContracting
State,theStateofOccurrenceshallinstitutean
investigationintothecircumstancesoftheaccident
andshallalsoberesponsiblefortheconductofthe
investigation .
b)Whentheaccidenthasoccurredintheterritoryofa
non-Contracting State,theStateofRegistryshould
endeavourtoinstituteandconductaninvestigation
incooperationwiththeStateofOccurrence .
c)Whenthelocationoftheaccidentcannotdefinitely
beestablishedasbeingintheterritoryofanyState,
theStateofRegistryshallinstituteandconductany
necessaryinvestigationoftheaccident.
1.1.8.ECAC(TheEuropeanCivilAviationConfer­
ence)issupportiveoftheproposedICAOchanges. f1)OJNoC257,22.9.1993,p.8.

2.2.94 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoC34/19
2.ResuméoftheCommissionproposals
2,1,TheCommission recognizesthedifficulties
facingCommunityAccidentInvestigatorswithparticu­
larreferencetolegalandjudicialinvestigations .1,1.9.Normallytheconductofaninvestigation
shouldatfirstascertainthefactsandpreserveevidence.
Whentheinvestigationhasadvancedsufficiently,the
factsareanalyzedleadingtofindingsandcauses.This
inturndeterminesrecommendations toregulatoryand
otherauthoritiesinordertopreventfurtheraccidents.
Thejudiciaryinquirymaymakeuseofthefactualpart
ofthereportoftheinvestigators ,includingthespecialist
interpretationoftheevidence.However,itisforthe
courtstoanalyzethisevidenceand,iffeltnecessary,to
allocateblame.2.2,TheCommissionisgivingsupporttotheICAO
changestowhichallMemberStateshaveagreedand
proposeslegislationtoachieveimprovedaccidentsand
incidentinvestigation .
1.2.Communityscene 2.3.TheCommissionproposestheconceptofintro­
ducingaminimumlevelofauthorityforaccidentinves­
tigators.TheCommissionstressesthatitsproposalis
purelytechnicalandmustnotbeseenasbecoming
involvedwith,ortryingtoamend,MemberStates'legal
systems.1.2.1.Ataboutthesametime,andwithknowledge
ofICAOactivities,theCommissionhadanumberof
studiesundertakentodeterminethesituationwithin
theCommunity .Ithasbeenverythoroughinallthat
ithasinvestigatedconcerningairsafety.2.4.TheaimoftheproposedDirectiveistolay
downcommonbasicprinciplesgoverninginvestigations
ofcivilaviationaccidentsandincidentsbynational
authorities .
1.2.2.DuringitsstudiesandinvestigationstheCom­
missionfound:
—widelydifferinglegislationcurrentintheMember
Statescontrollingtheinvestigationofaircraftacci­
dents.Thisismainlyduetothedifferentlegal
systems,thoseofNapoleonicoriginare'inquisi­
torial'andtheothersare'accusatory';
—eachStatehasitsownlegislativeinterpretationof
whatisrequiredtolegalizetheinvestigationof
aircraftaccidents;
—onlysomeStates'accidentinvestigationauthorities
enjoyindependencefromtheircivilaviationautho­
rities;
—limitednumberofMemberStateswhohavethe
resourcestocarryoutmajoraccidentinvestigations ;
—eightStateshaveincident-reporting systemsofdif­
feringstandards;
—widelydifferingstandardswhichexistinthefield
ofinvestigatorqualificationsandtraining.2.5.TheproposedDirectiveisbasedontheconvic­
tionthatdetermination ofcausesofaccidentsandthe
circumstances involved(bymeansofin-depthtechnical
investigations )isofvitalimportanceiftheCommunity
istoestablishthemosteffectivepreventionmeasures
withintheframeworkofcommonairsafetypolicy.The
sixbasicprinciplessetoutintheproposalare:
I.itshallbemandatorytocarryoutinvestigations
intoeverycivilaviationaccidentorseriousinci­
dent,thesoleaimoftheinvestigationbeingto
preventsuchaccidentsorincidentsfromrecurring;
II.acleardistinctionshallbedrawnbetweenthe
judicialenquirytodetermineresponsibilityandthe
technicalinvestigation ;thetechnicalinvestigation
shallbegivenanenhancedstatus;
III.thebodyresponsibleforcarryingouttheinvesti­
gationshallbepermanentandindependent ;
IV.theinvestigationbodyshallbeobligedtopublish
areportcontainingconclusionsandsafetyrec­
ommendations ;
AresumesummarizingmuchoftheCommissionwork,
studies,conclusionsandreasonsforactionnottakenis
inSEC(91)1419finaldated4September1991.Thisis
theCommunication referredtointheintroductionto
theproposedDirective,bynameonly.ThisSECdocu­
menthasnotbeencirculatedtoCommitteemembers.V.MemberStatesshallbeobligedtogiveduecon­
siderationtosafetyrecommendations andtoact
uponthemwhereappropriate ;
VI.theinvestigationreportshallnotbeusedforother
purposes.

NoC34/20 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 2.2.94
2.6.Communityactionisneededbecauseofthedis­
parityofstandardsintheMemberStatesonmatters
concerningairsafety.ACommunityinitiativewilllead
toabetterenvironmentfortheconductingofinvesti­
gationsintoaccidentsandincidents.
2.7.TheCommission'sproposalisgenerallyin
accordancewiththeprocedurealreadyinuseinsome
MemberStates.3.5.TheCommissionreferenceto'legalinstruments'
intheexplanatoryMemorandum isunderstoodtomean
Directives,RegulationsorDecisionsandnottospecific
ArticlesofanyTreaties.
3.6.TheCommission referencetoa'framework
Directive'intheExplanatoryMemorandum isunder­
stoodtomeanthattheproposalisbroadlybased,i.e.
itdoesnotintendgoingintodetail.TheCommission
doesnothaveanyintention,atthemoment,ofsubmit­
tingsupplementstothisproposedDirective.Werethe
Commissiontogointomoredetail,itwouldasa
minimumbeunnecessarilyduplicatingtheworkof
ICAOandtheCommissiondoesnotclaimcompetence
forthistypeofworkanyway.
4.Specificcomments
4.1.Article5
TheCommitteefullyendorsestheobjectiveofthis
ArticlesincefailuretoimplementinallStateswill
defeatthewholeobjectiveoftheproposedDirective.
4.2.Article6,sub-para.33.Generalcomments
3.1.TheCommitteewelcomestheCommission's
proposal.
3.2.TheCommitteeconsidersthateventhoseMem­
berStateswhowillhavetomakeconsiderablechanges
totheirexistingairaccidentsinvestigationarrange­
mentswillneverthelessfindthatthisisapositivestep
towardsincreasedairsafety.
3.3.TheCommitteesupportstheconceptofintrodu­
cingaminimumlevelofauthorityforaccidentinvesti­
gators.'Providethetoolstoenableinvestigatorsto
carryouttheirjob'.
3.4.Thereisneedforaviationsafetyorganizations
tohaveaccesstoadatabasecontainingaccidentsand
incidentinformation .Althoughthereareinexistence
variousdatabaseswithintheCommunity ,itishighly
desirablethatalldataisgatheredcentrallyandmade
availabletosafetyorganizations .Itmaybeappropriate
toestablishthedatabasetobetrueEuropean.There­
fore,afutureCommunitydatabaseshouldbedesigned
totakeintoaccountitspossibleextensiontoother
ECACmembers.Amend'suitablytrainedinvestigator'toread'suitably
trainedandqualifiedinvestigator'.
4.3.Article9,sub-para.1
Seecommentsin3.4.above.
4.4.Article10
TheCommitteefullyendorsestheobjectivesofthis
Articleandstressestheneedforprotectionofboth
investigatorsandreportersofincidents.Thefreedom
inwhichaninvestigation iscarriedoutmayotherwise
bereducedandthesafetyofaircraftandpassengers
andcrewputatrisk.
DoneatBrussels,24november1993.
TheChairman
oftheEconomicandSocialCommittee
SusanneTIEMANN