Opinion of the Commission pursuant to Article 251 (2), third subparagraph, point (c) of the EC Treaty, on the European Parliament's amendments to the Council's common position regarding the proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on occurrence reporting in civil aviation amending the proposal of the Commission pursuant to Article 250 (2) of the EC Treaty
Date: 2002-11-18
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: accident prevention, air safety, civil aviation, data collection, exchange of information, transport accident

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 18.11.2002
COM(2002) 647 final

2000/0343 (COD)

OPINION OF THE COMMISSION

pursuant to Article 251 (2), third subparagraph, point (c) of the EC Treaty,
on the European Parliament's amendments
to the Council's common position regarding the
proposal for a

DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

on occurrence reporting in civil aviation

AMENDING THE PROPOSAL OF THE COMMISSION
pursuant to Article 250 (2) of the EC Treaty

2000/0343 (COD)

OPINION OF THE COMMISSION

pursuant to Article 251 (2), third subparagraph, point (c) of the EC Treaty,
on the European Parliament's amendments
to the Council's common position regarding the
proposal for a

DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

on occurrence reporting in civil aviation

Article 251(2)(c) of the EC Treaty lays down that the Commission shall deliver an opinion on
the amendments proposed by the European Parliament at the second reading.

The  Commission  therefore  delivers  the  following  opinion  on  the  amendments  proposed  by
Parliament.

1.

a)

b)

c)

d)

e)

f)

g)

BACKGROUND

On  19.12.2000,  the  Commission  transmitted  to  the  Council  and  the  European
Parliament its proposal for a Directive (COM(2000) 847 final - 2000/0343(COD) of
19.12.2000).

The Economic and Social Committee delivered a favourable opinion on 12.9.2001.

The Committee of the Regions decided not to deliver an opinion.

On  14.6.2001,  the  European  Parliament,  at  its  first  reading,  delivered  its  opinion,
containing a number of amendments to the Commission proposal.

On 25.9.2001 (COM(2001)532 final), the Commission adopted,  in  accordance  with
Article 250(2) of the Treaty, an  amended proposal incorporating, wholly or in part,
eight of the ten amendments adopted by Parliament.

The Council adopted its common position on 17.6.2002.

On 23.10.2002, the European Parliament adopted, at the second reading, a resolution
containing two amendments to the common position.

2.

OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSED DIRECTIVE

The objective of the proposed Directive is to improve air safety by ensuring that relevant safety
information is reported, collected, stored, protected and disseminated.

To this end, Member States are required to organise a national system for collecting occurrence
reports  and  to  participate  in  an  information  exchange  system  making  it  possible  to  pool  the
information gathered.

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Provision is made for protecting the confidentiality of the information and the arrangements for
disseminating it.

The sole objective of the occurrence reports is to prevent future accidents and incidents and not
to determine fault or responsibility.

3.

OPINION  OF  THE  COMMISSION  ON  THE  AMENDMENTS  BY  THE  EUROPEAN
PARLIAMENT

Parliament  adopted  two  amendments  to  the  common  position  of  the  Council  at  the  second
reading.

The Commission accepts all the amendments proposed by the European Parliament.

3.1

Amendment 1: Protection of the reporter.

Amendment 1 reinstates the  paragraph  3 of  Article  8 of the  Commission  amended  proposal
which was deleted in the common position of the Council. This paragraph aims at protecting
the  reporter  of  an  incident  from  sanctions,  except  in  case  of  gross  negligence.  In  its
Communication  to  the  European  Parliament  on  the  common  position,  the  Commission
regretted the deletion of this paragraph which gave a clear political signal about the principle
that the occurrence reporter should be regarded as conveying an important positive message
for  air  safety  and  therefore  encouraged  to  do  so  without  risking  any  counterproductive
sanctions.

The Commission is able to accept this amendment.

3.2

Amendment 2: Confidential reporting

Amendment  2  reinstates  Article  9  of  the  Commission  proposal  which  was  deleted  in  the
Common position of the Council. This paragraph aims at establishing the legal framework to
enable the setting up  of voluntary  confidential reporting systems. The  Commission opposed
the  deletion  of  this  article  which  would  allow  a  better  understanding  of  human  factors
involved in occurrences and accidents.

The Commission is able to accept this amendment.

4.

CONCLUSION

In accordance with Article 250(2) of the EC Treaty, the Commission amends its proposal as
set out above.

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