Council Regulation (EC) No 925/1999 of 29 April 1999 on the registration and operation within the Community of certain types of civil subsonic jet aeroplanes which have been modified and recertificated as meeting the standards of volume I, Part II, Chapter 3 of Annex 16 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation, third edition (July 1993)
Date: 1999-04-29
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: aircraft, civil aviation, international standard, technical standard, transport regulations, vehicle registration

4. 5. 1999

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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I

(Acts whose publication is obligatory)

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 925/1999
of 29 April 1999
on the registration and operation within the Community of certain types of civil
subsonic jet aeroplanes which have been modified and recertificated as meeting
the standards of volume I, Part II, Chapter 3 of Annex 16 to the Convention on
International Civil Aviation, third edition (July 1993)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 84(2) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee (2),

Acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in
Article 189c of the Treaty (3),

(1) Whereas one of the key objectives of the common
transport policy is sustainable mobility; whereas such
a policy can be defined as a global approach which
aims at ensuring both the effective functioning of the
Community’s transport systems and the protection of
the environment; whereas it is appropriate to take
technical measures which contribute to the achieve-
ment of sustainable mobility;

(2) Whereas the Commission communication on the
future development of the common transport policy:
a
a global
construction of
Community framework for
sustainable mobility
explicitly refers to the introduction of a non-addition
rule for the noisiest aeroplanes;

framework to the

(3) Whereas the fifth action programme of 1992 on the
environment,
the general approach of which was
endorsed by the Council and the representatives of
the Governments of
the Member States, meeting
within the Council, in their resolution of 1 February

(1) OJ C 118, 17.4.1998, p. 20 and
OJ C 329, 27.10.1998, p. 10.

(2) OJ C 284, 14.9.1998, p. 1.
(3) Opinion of the European Parliament of 16 September 1998
(OJ C 313, 12.10.1998, p. 94), Council common position of
16 November 1998 (OJ C 404, 23.12.1998, p. 1) and Decision
of
the European Parliament of 10 February 1999 (not yet
published in the Official Journal).

1993 (4) envisages further legislative measures aimed
at reducing noise emissions from aeroplanes; whereas
the said programme lays down the objective that no
person should be exposed to noise levels which
endanger health and quality of life;

(4) Whereas the growth in air transport activities at
Community airports is increasingly subject to envir-
onmental constraints; whereas the operation of less
noisy aeroplanes at these airports can contribute to a
better use of available airport capacity;

(5) Whereas older

types of aeroplanes modified to
improve their noise certification level have a noise
performance which is significantly worse, mass for
mass, than that of modern types of aeroplanes origi-
nally certificated to meet the standards of Volume I,
Part II, Chapter 3 of Annex 16 to the Convention on
International Civil Aviation,
third edition (July
1993); whereas such modifications prolong the life of
an aeroplane that would normally have been retired;
whereas
tend to worsen the
gaseous emissions performance and fuel burn of
earlier technology aero engines; whereas aeroplanes
may be re-engined to achieve a noise performance
comparable to that of those originally certificated to
meet Chapter 3 requirements;

such modifications

(6) Whereas a rule which prohibits the addition of those
older modified types of aeroplanes to Member States’
registers as from 1 April 1999 can be considered as a
protective measure aimed at preventing a deteriora-
tion of
the noise situation around Community
airports as well as improving the situation regarding
fuel burn and gaseous emissions;

(4) OJ C 138, 17.5.1993, p. 1.

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(7) Whereas in a Community without internal frontiers
it is appropriate to exclude from this non-addition
rule aeroplanes entered in any Member State’s
register prior to 1 April 1999;

(8) Whereas, in view of existing Community legislation
on aeroplane noise, the present initiative needs to be
taken at Community level by binding Community
rules;

(9) Whereas a non-addition rule, and a non-operation
rule with an appropriate transition period, combines
technical
feasibility with environmental benefits
without imposing an undue economic burden;

third-country registers,

(10) Whereas it is necessary to minimise possible distor-
tions of competition by establishing equivalent
requirements applicable to aeroplanes registered in
third countries; whereas, since the Community has
no competence over
that
objective can be achieved only by restricting the
operation of non-complying aeroplanes registered as
from 1 April 1999 in third countries; whereas the
date for introducing such restrictions should take
account of the final cut-off date for the operation of
Chapter 2 aeroplanes as provided for in Council
Directive 92/14/EEC of 2 March 1992 on the limita-
tion of
the operation of aeroplanes covered by
Volume I, Part II, Chapter 2 of Annex 16 to the
Convention on International Civil Aviation, second
edition 1998 (1), as well as the extent of the non-addi-
tion provisions for Chapter 2 aeroplanes as laid down
in Council Directive 89/629/EEC of 4 December
1989 on the limitation of noise emission from civil
subsonic jet aeroplanes (2);

(11) Whereas, in order to ensure equal treatment of aero-
their country of registration,
planes regardless of
registers of
non-complying
Member States should also be stopped from oper-
ating in accordance with the terms imposed on non-
complying aeroplanes in the registers of third coun-
tries;

aeroplanes

in the

(12) Whereas, given that

the main objective of

the
measure is to limit noise at Community airports,
aeroplanes may be exempted from the non-addition
and non-operation rules when they are not operated
in the Community territory; whereas, in order for
these rules to produce their full environmental bene-
fits, temporary exemptions may be possible only for
operations of an exceptional nature;

(13) Whereas the provisions of this Regulation shall not
be implemented in the overseas departments referred

(1) OJ L 76, 23.3.1992, p. 21. Directive as amended by Directive

98/20/EC (OJ L 107, 7.4.1998, p. 4).

(2) OJ L 363, 13.12.1989, p. 27.

to in Article 227(2) of the Treaty, in view of their
geographical location;

(14) Whereas

it

information
is necessary to gather
concerning the exemptions granted by the Member
States;

(15) Whereas arrangements for greater cooperation over
the use of Gibraltar airport were agreed in London
on 2 December 1987 by the Kingdom of Spain and
the United Kingdom in a joint declaration by the
Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the two countries;
whereas such arrangements have yet to come into
operation,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Objective

The objective of this Regulation is to lay down rules to
prevent deteriorations in the overall noise impact in the
Community of recertificated civil subsonic jet aeroplanes
while at
the same time limiting other environmental
damage.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation:

(1)

(2)

subsonic

jet aeroplane'

‘civil
shall mean a civil
subsonic jet aeroplane with a maximum certificated
take off mass of 34 000 kg or more, or with a certified
maximum internal accomodation for the aeroplane
type in question consisting of more than 19 passenger
seats, excluding any seats for crew only, and powered
by engines with a by-pass ratio of less than three;

‘recertificated civil subsonic jet aeroplane' shall mean
a civil subsonic jet aeroplane initially certificated to
Chapter 2 or equivalent standards, or initially not
noise-certificated which has been modified to meet
Chapter 3 standards either directly through technical
measures or indirectly through operational restric-
tions; civil subsonic jet aeroplanes which initially
could only be dual-certificated to the standards of
Chapter 3 by means of weight restrictions, have to be
considered as recertificated aeroplanes; civil subsonic
jet aeroplanes which have been modified to meet
Chapter 3 standards by being completely re-enginged
with engines having a by-pass ratio of three or more
are not to be considered as recertificated aeroplanes;

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(3)

(4)

(5)

‘Chapter 2' and ‘Chapter 3' shall mean the noise
standards as defined in Volume I, Part II, Chapter 2
and Chapter 3 respectively of Annex 16 to the
Convention on International Civil Aviation,
third
edition (July 1993);

‘operational restrictions' shall mean weight restric-
tions imposed on the aeroplane and/or operational
limitations within the control of the pilot or the oper-
ator, such as reduced flap setting;

‘registration of an aeroplane' shall mean the formal
act whereby the nationality of an aeroplane is estab-
lished through its entry on the national register of a
Member State or a third country;

(6)

‘the territory of the Community' shall mean the ter-
ritory of the Community subject to the provisions of
the Treaty.

atory basis, Member States may limit such exemptions to
certain airports and/or certain specified periods of the
day.

2. Member States may grant exemptions from Article 3
for civil subsonic jet aeroplanes which are exclusively
operated outside the territory of the Community.

3. Member States may grant exemptions from Article 3
for civil subsonic jet aeroplanes leased to an operator
which for that reason have been temporarily removed
from the register of the Member State in which they were
registered during the 6 months before 1 April 1999,
the
provided that
aircraft remains in the Member State.

legal and economic ownership of

4. Once a year Member States
inform the
Commission of exemptions granted under this Article.

shall

Article 3

Article 5

Non-complying aeroplanes

Overseas departments

1.
Recertificated civil subsonic jet aeroplanes shall not
be registered in the national register of a Member state as
from 1 April 1999.

2.
paragraph 1 shall not affect civil subsonic jet aero-
planes which were already on the register of any Member
State on 1 April 1999 and have been registered in the
Community ever since.

3. Notwithstanding the provisions of Directive 92/
14/EEC and in particular Article 2(2) thereof, as from 1
April 2002 recertificated civil subsonic jet aeroplanes
registered in a third country shall not be allowed to
operate at airports in the territory of the Community
unless the operator of such aeroplanes can prove that they
were on the register of that third country on 1 April 1999
and prior to that date have been operated, between 1
April 1995 and 1 April 1999, into the territory of the
Community.

Recertificated civil subsonic jet aeroplanes which are
4.
on the registers of Member States may not be operated at
airports in the territory of the Community as from 1 April
2002 unless they have been operated in that territory
before 1 April 1999.

Article 4

Exemptions

1. Member States may grant
temporary exemptions
from Article 3 for civil subsonic jet aeroplanes whose
operations are of such an exceptional nature that it would
be unreasonable to withhold a temporary exemption, such
as for emergencies. On a transparent and non-discrimin-

This Regulation shall not apply to the overseas depart-
ments referred to in Article 227(2) of the Treaty, neither
with regard to the provisions concerning the registration
of
in the
national registers of Member States, or concerning the
operation of such aeroplanes at airports located in the said
departments.

subsonic jet aeroplanes

recertificated civil

Article 6

The airport of Gibraltar

1.
The application of this Regulation to the airport of
Gibraltar is understood to be without prejudice to the
respective legal positions of the Kingdom of Spain and
the United Kingdom with regard to the dispute over
sovereignty over the territory in which the airport is situ-
ated.

2.
Application of the provisions of this Regulation to
Gibraltar airport shall be suspended until the arrange-
ments in the joint declaration made by the Foreign
Ministers of
the Kingdom of Spain and the United
Kingdom on 2 December 1987 have come into operation.
The Governments of Spain and the United Kingdom
shall inform the Council of that date.

Article 7

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its
publication in the Official Journal of the European
Communities.

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This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member
States.

Done at Luxembourg, 29 April 1999.

For the Council
The President

W. M(cid:154)LLER