Proposal for a DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL repealing Council Directive 89/629/EEC
Date: 2022-09-16
Institutions: Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, European Commission
Subjects: aircraft, civil aviation, noise pollution, noise protection

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 16.9.2022  COM(2022) 465 final 2022/0282 (COD)  Proposal for a DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL repealing Council Directive 89/629/EEC  
 
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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 

Reasons for and objectives of the proposal 

This proposal for repealing Council Directive 89/629/EEC is submitted in the context 
of  the  Commission's  REFIT  programme  and  commitment  on  better  regulation.  The 
objective  is  to  ensure  a  legislative  framework  that  is  fit  for  purpose  and  of  high-
quality,  as  referred  to  in  the  Interinstitutional  Agreement  between  the  European 
Parliament,  the  Council  of  the  European  Union  and  the  European  Commission  on 
Better Law-Making. To that end, the Commission has identified this obsolete act that 
the Commission is proposing to repeal. The Commission announced its intention to 
repeal  the  Council  Directive  86/629/EEC  in  its  Commission  Work  Programme  for 
20171.  

LEGAL BASIS, SUBSIDIARITY AND PROPORTIONALITY 

Legal basis 

Based on Article 100(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (ex 
Article  80(2)  TEC  and  ex  Article  84(2)  TEEC),  Council  Directive  89/629/EEC 
allowed  for  certain  aeroplanes  exceeding  relevant  noise  emission  standards  to 
continue  operation,  if  they  had  already  been  entered  in  a  national  register  of  a 
Member  State.  It  was  no  longer  allowed  to  include  any  new  registrations  of  such 
aeroplanes after the Directive entered into force.  
Directive  2006/93/EC2  introduced  a  complete  phase-out  for  all  noisy  aeroplanes, 
including  those  covered  by  Council  Directive  89/629/EEC,  regardless  of  whether 
they were already registered or not. As a result, aeroplanes not meeting the relevant 
noise emission standards are no longer allowed to fly in European Union skies and 
have had to be removed from the Member States' national registers. 

With  the  changed  approach  from  the  non-addition  rule  in  1989  to  the  phase-out 
approach  in  2006,  and  the  fact  that  aeroplanes  not  meeting  the  relevant  noise 
emission  standards  have  been  eliminated  from  national  registers  and  are  no  longer 
allowed  to  fly  in  the  European  Union  skies,  the  Council  Directive  89/629/EEC 
became obsolete and should be repealed. 

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COM(2016) 710 final – ANNEX 5 
Directive  2006/93/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  12  December  2006  on  the 
regulation of the operation of aeroplanes covered by Part II, Chapter 3 , Volume 1 of Annex 16 to the 
Convention on International Civil Aviation, second edition (1988) 

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2022/0282 (COD) 

Proposal for a 

DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

repealing Council Directive 89/629/EEC 

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European  Union,  and  in  particular 
Article 100(2) thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, 

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments, 

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee,  

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions,  

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure, 

Whereas: 

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(2) 

(3) 

The  European  Parliament,  the  Council  of  the  European  Union  and  the  European 
Commission  have  confirmed  in  the  Interinstitutional  Agreement  on  Better  Law-
Making of 13 April 20163 their joint commitment to update and simplify legislation. 
Council  Directive  89/629/EEC4  allowed  for  certain  aeroplanes  exceeding  relevant 
noise emission standards to continue operation, if they had already been entered in a 
national register of a Member State. However, it applied a no-addition rule: it was no 
longer allowed to include any new registrations of such aeroplanes after the Directive 
89/629/EEC entered into force. That allowed for the registration of aeroplanes which 
did not meet the standards under Directive 89/629/EEC but were already being used to 
continue operation.  
Directive  2006/93/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council5  introduced  a 
complete  phasing-out  for  all  aeroplanes  which  did  not  meet  the  relevant  noise 
emission  standards,  including  those  previously  covered  by  Directive  89/629/EEC, 
regardless  of  whether  they  had  already  been  registered  or  not.  That  has  led  to  the 
situation  where  the  aeroplanes  concerned  are  no  longer  allowed  to  fly  in  the  Union 
skies and have had to be removed from the Member States’ national registers.  

(4) 

Directive 89/629/EEC should therefore be repealed, 

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OJ L 123, 12.5.2016, p. 1. 
Council  Directive  89/629/EEC  of  4  December  1989  on  the  limitation  of  noise  emission  from  civil 
subsonic jet aeroplanes (OJ L 363, 13.12.1989, p. 27).  
Directive  2006/93/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  12  December  2006  on  the 
regulation of the operation of aeroplanes covered by Part II, Chapter 3, Volume 1 of Annex 16 to the 
Convention on International Civil Aviation, second edition (1988) (OJ L 374, 27.12.2006, p. 1). 

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HAVE ADOPTED THIS DECISION: 

Directive 89/629/EEC is repealed. 

Article 1 

Article 2 

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

Done at Brussels, 

For the European Parliament 
The President 

For the Council 
The President 

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