Communication from the Commission to the Council pursuant to Article 37 of the Act of Accession of Bulgaria to the European Union regarding a draft Regulation repealing Regulation (EC) No 1962/2006
Date: 2008-07-22
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Bulgaria, accession to the European Union, air transport, civil aviation, transport licence

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 22.7.2008 
COM(2008) 493 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL 

pursuant to Article 37 of the Act of Accession of Bulgaria to the European Union 
regarding a draft Regulation repealing Regulation (EC) No 1962/2006 

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COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL 

pursuant to Article 37 of the Act of Accession of Bulgaria to the European Union 
regarding a draft Regulation repealing Regulation (EC) No 1962/2006 

By Regulation (EC) No 1962/20061, the Commission imposed safeguard measures in respect 
to  Bulgaria  in  the  area  of  civil  aviation  pursuant  to  Article  37  of  the  Act  of  Accession  of 
Bulgaria  resulting  from  a  failure  to  implement  commitments  undertaken  by  Bulgaria  in  the 
context  of  accession  negotiations  with  regard  to  Community  policy  in  the  area  of  aviation 
safety concerning economic activities with cross border effects. Following the imposition of 
the safeguard measures, the competent authority for civil aviation of Bulgaria proposed to and 
agreed  with  the  European  Aviation  Safety  Agency  (EASA)  a  plan  of  corrective  measures 
designed to remedy the safety shortcomings. 

EASA  was  requested  by  the  Commission  to  verify  regulatory  compliance  of  the  Bulgarian 
Aviation Authorities in all aspects of safety affected by the safeguard measures imposed by 
Regulation (EC) No 1962/2006. 

The  Bulgarian  civil  aviation  authority  reacted  promptly  and  submitted  corrective  actions  to 
EASA  which  were  implemented  with  the  agreement  of  the  Agency.  In  order  to  verify  the 
effectiveness of implementation of these actions, EASA carried out a follow-up visit on 8 and 
9 April 2008 and issued a statement of closure of findings on 24 April 2008. 

Pursuant  to  Article  37  of  the  Act  of  Accession  of  Bulgaria  to  the  European  Union,  the 
safeguard  measures  shall  be  maintained  no  longer  than  strictly  necessary  and,  in  any  case, 
shall  be  lifted  when  the  relevant  commitment  is  implemented.  Bulgaria's  successful 
implementation  of  the  agreed  corrective  actions  is  considered  sufficient  to  guarantee  the 
capacity  of  the  Bulgarian  Civil  Aviation  Authority  to  ensure  compliance  with  the  common 
rules on safety, and therefore, pursuant to Article 37 of the Act of Accession of Bulgaria to 
the  European  Union,  the  Commission  considers  that  the  commitment  of  Bulgaria  to  fully 
apply  the  Community  rules  in  the  area  of  air  transport  is  fulfilled  and  that  the  safeguard 
measures imposed by virtue of Regulation (EC) No 1962/2006 should be lifted. 

Pursuant to the abovementioned Article 37, the Commission has the obligation to inform the 
Council in good time before revoking the European regulations and decisions establishing the 
safeguard  measures,  and  to  take  duly  into  account  any  observations  of  the  Council  in  this 
respect.  Accordingly,  by  the  present  Communication  the  Commission  formally  informs  the 
Council of its intention to adopt the measures presented in the Annex hereto.  

The  Commission  shall  adopt  these  measures  taking  due  account  of  the  observations  of  the 
Council on the subject matter. 

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OJ L 408, 30.12.2006, p.8. Corrected version published in OJ L 47, 16.2.2007, p. 8. 

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ANNEXE 

Draft 

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No …/.. 

of 

repealing Regulation (EC) No 1962/2006 

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, 

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, 

Having regard to the Treaty of Accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union, 
and in particular Article 4(3) thereof,  

Having regard to the Act of Accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union, and 
in particular Article 37 thereof, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

By Regulation (EC) No 1962/20062, the Commission imposed safeguard measures in 
respect  to  Bulgaria  in  the  area  of  civil  aviation  pursuant  to  Article  37  of  the  Act  of 
Accession  of  Bulgaria  in  order  to  address  a  serious  breach  of  the  functioning  of  the 
internal  market  for  air  transport,  resulting  from  a  failure  to  implement  commitments 
undertaken  by  Bulgaria  in  the  context  of  accession  negotiations  with  regard  to 
Community policy in the area of aviation safety concerning economic activities with 
cross border effects. 

Following the imposition of the safeguard measures provided by Regulation (EC) No 
1962/2006, the competent authority for civil aviation of Bulgaria (hereinafter referred 
to as "the Bulgarian CAA") proposed to and agreed with the European Aviation Safety 
Agency  (EASA)  a  plan  of  corrective  measures  designed  to  remedy  the  safety 
shortcomings  identified  during  previous  visits  by  EASA  and  the  Joint  Aviation 
Authorities (JAA). 

The  Commission  requested  on  6  September  2007  EASA  to  verify  regulatory 
compliance of the Bulgarian Aviation Authorities in all aspects of safety affected by 
the safeguard measures imposed by Regulation (EC) No 1962/2006, i.e. to verify the 
implementation of the agreed corrective action plan and the capacity of the Bulgarian 
CAA to implement the rules and ensure that they are properly respected as part of its 
oversight obligations. 

This  inspection  visit  was  carried  out  by  EASA  from  26  to  30  November  2007  in 
application  of  Articles  24(1)  and  (5)  and  54  of  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 

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OJ L 408, 30.12.2006, p.8. Corrected version published in OJ L 47, 16.2.2007, p. 8. 

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(5) 

(6) 

(7) 

(8) 

repealing  Council  Directive  91/670/EEC,  Regulation  (EC)  No  1592/2002  and 
Directive  2004/26/EC3  and  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  Commission 
Regulation (EC) No 736/2006 of 16 May 2006 on working methods of the European 
Aviation  Safety  Agency  for  conducting  standardisation  inspections4.  Following  this 
visit, EASA issued its report on 15 February 20085. 

In  its  report  of  the  standardisation  visit  EASA  noted  a  definitive  improvement:  all 
required  Part  M,  Part  145,  Part  147  approvals  and  all  Part  66  licences  have  been 
issued. Also the Air Operator Certificates except for one have been issued according to 
European requirements. Hence, EASA was able to close 44 out of 45 findings in the 
area  of  airworthiness  while  it  raised  12  new  findings  concerning  processes  of 
continuous oversight. 

In  its  report,  EASA  also  stated  that  since  the  previous  inspection  visit  in  November 
2006, the Bulgarian CAA had taken drastic measures with regard to the airworthiness 
of all aircraft registered in Bulgaria. 

Thus, the number of aircraft on the Bulgarian register had been reduced by nearly half 
due to the removal from the register of aircraft of former Soviet design falling under 
Annex II of Regulation (EC) No 216/2008. Also, the Bulgarian CAA has taken actions 
to limit or revoke non-complying approvals and certificates. The number of inspectors 
for  continued  airworthiness  has  increased  from  8  to  12  (with,  in  addition,  3  new 
support  staff).  Furthermore,  there  has  been  a  significant  improvement  in  record 
keeping  by  the  Bulgarian  CAA  over  the  last  year,  making  the  demonstration  of  the 
level of oversight clear to the inspectors of EASA. It was also noted that the Bulgarian 
CAA  has  put  much  effort  into  developing  an  Inspectors'  Handbook  covering  the 
relevant  requirements  with  associated  check  lists  to  be  used  by  applicants  for  initial 
approvals  or  variation  to  existing  approvals.  Lastly,  it  was  documented  that 
comprehensive  training  has  been  carried  out  for  both  existing  and  new  CAA  staff, 
although  certain  areas  such  as  approval  of  maintenance  and  reliability  programmes, 
Reduced Visibility RVSM programmes were not particularly addressed. 

At  the  same  time,  EASA  concluded  that  further  enhancements  mainly  in  the  area  of 
airworthiness  certification  and  continuous  oversight  were  however  still  required  to 
resolve  the  lack  of  assessment  by  the  Bulgarian  CAA  of  the  effectiveness  of  the 
quality  system  common  to  operations,  maintenance  and  flight  crew  licensing.  In 
particular in this area, EASA raised one finding of non compliance pursuant to Article 
13(d) of Regulation (EC) No 736/2006 evidencing significant standardisation concerns 
of non compliance in the area concerned and raising safety concerns if not promptly 
corrected.  In  parallel  certain  non  compliances  observed  in  the  undertakings  visited 
during this visit to verify the effectiveness of the oversight exercised by the Bulgarian 
CAA,  confirmed  the  necessity  for  these  authorities  to  propose  corrective  actions  for 
another 10 findings pursuant to Article 13(c) to resolve these matters within 14 days. 

(9) 

The Bulgarian CAA reacted timely and submitted corrective actions to EASA which 
were implemented with the agreement of EASA. In order to verify the effectiveness of 
implementation of these actions, EASA carried out a follow-up visit on 8 and 9 April 

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OJ L 79, 19.3.2008, p. 1. 
OJ L 129, 17.5.2008, p.10. 
Final  Report  on  the  EASA  Standardisation  Inspection  of  the  Republic  of  Bulgaria,  Bulgarian  Civil 
Aviation  Administration,  in  the  filed  of  European  aviation  safety  regulation  applicable  in  the  area  of 
continuing airworthiness, CAW.BG.11.2007 issued on 15 February 2008 

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2008  and  issued  a  statement  of  closure  of  findings  pursuant  to  Article  12(b)  of 
Regulation  (EC)  No  736/2006  on  24  April  2008.  The  statements  presented  therein 
were  further  amended  in  a  final  version  drawn  up  by  EASA  on  21  May,  which  was 
transmitted to the Commission on 26 May 2008. 

(10)  On 15 May 2008, Bulgaria formally requested the Commission to review and remove 
the  safeguard  measures  pursuant  to  Article  3  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  1962/2006 
motivating its request by referring to the statement of closure of findings issued earlier 
by EASA. 

(11)  Pursuant to Article 37 of the Act of Accession of Bulgaria to the European Union, the 
safeguard measures shall be maintained no longer than strictly necessary and, in any 
case,  shall  be  lifted  when  the  relevant  commitment  is  implemented.  Bulgaria's 
successful implementation of the agreed corrective actions is considered sufficient to 
guarantee  the  capacity  of  the  Bulgarian  CAA  to  ensure  compliance  with  Regulation 
(EC) No 216/2008 and its implementing regulations. 

(12)  The Commission considers therefore, that the commitment of Bulgaria to fully apply 
the  Community  rules  in  the  area  of  air  transport  is  fulfilled  and  that  the  safeguard 
measures imposed by virtue of Regulation (EC) No 1962/2006 should be lifted. 

(13)  Pursuant to Article 37 of the Act of Accession of Bulgaria to the European Union, the 
Commission  shall  inform  the  Council  in  good  time  before  revoking  the  European 
regulations  and  decisions  establishing  the  safeguard  measures,  and  it  shall  take  duly 
into  account  any  observations  of  the  Council  in  this  respect.  Accordingly,  the 
Commission informed the Council on […]. 

(14)  The  Council  submitted  its  observations  to  the  Commission  on  […].  This  Regulation 

takes due account of these observations, 

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

Regulation (EC) No 1962/2006 is repealed. 

Article 1 

Article 2 

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

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

Done at Brussels,  

For the Commission 

Member of the Commission 

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