COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE EVALUATION of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency's performance in relation to its objectives mandates and tasks, and Regulation (EU) 2018/1139
Date: 2023-09-12
Institutions: Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, European Commission
Subjects: European Aviation Safety Agency, air safety, air traffic, aircraft, airport, civil aviation, crew, environmental protection, operation of the Institutions

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  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 12.9.2023  SWD(2023) 299 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE EVALUATION  of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency's performance in relation to its objectives mandates and tasks, and Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 {SWD(2023) 298 final}  
 
 
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

Regulation  (EU)  2018/1139  on  common  rules  in  the  field  of  aviation  and  establishing  a 
European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) (the Regulation) provides a comprehensive 
framework for aviation safety. It defines both, the remits of the EU’s aviation safety policy and 
the tasks and organisational set up of EASA.  

The  goal  of  this  evaluation  is  two-fold:  it  combines  the  assessment  of  “the  Agency’s 
performance in relation to its objectives, mandate and tasks” with the assessment of the overall 
impact  of  the  Regulation  and  the  changes  it  introduced.  In  addition,  Article  124  of  the 
Regulation stipulates that “the evaluation shall assess the impact of this Regulation, the Agency 
and its working practices in establishing a high level of aviation safety. The evaluation shall 
also address the possible need to modify the mandate of the Agency”. 

Main findings 

The evaluation concludes that the Regulation and EASA are relevant for the current and future 
needs  of  the  European  aviation  sector.  There  are,  however,  concerns  about  the  Agency’s 
capacity to deliver on new tasks (e.g. in the area of environmental protection) without negative 
repercussions on its core aviation safety tasks. The long term availability of sufficient resources 
for EASA to deliver on its increasing number of tasks needs to be carefully assessed. 

As regards the effectiveness, the evaluation concludes that EASA and the Regulation made an 
important contribution to the European integration in the area of air transport. This resulted in 
significant benefits for safety, efficiency, environment and an enhanced level playing field for 
the  aviation  industry.  EASA  demonstrated  its  effectiveness  while  responding  to  the  recent 
external shocks and political pressures: a widely positive feedback was reported on EASA’s 
role during the UK’s withdrawal from the Union, in ensuring safe flight operations during the 
COVID-19 pandemic and in the post-pandemic period, or in EASA’s reactions to Russia’s war 
of aggression against Ukraine.  

The efficiency analysis assessed to what extent the costs incurred by the implementation of the 
Regulation are proportional to the results achieved. The results of the evaluation are positive 
in this respect. Overall, the Agency demonstrated its ability to efficiently use its annual budgets 
and generate revenue through its activities. This being said, the Agency’s growing scope of 
tasks requires an assessment as regards the availability of the necessary resources in the longer 
term. This raises the question of whether the Union would not be better served with an Agency 
that is fully financed from user fees.      

The Regulation is coherent, both internally and externally. However, there is some room for 
improvement in relation to its external coherence. In specific cases, the Regulation is not fully 
consistent with other pieces of EU regulatory framework, in particular with regards to the SES 
regulatory framework.  

Finally,  the  evaluation  concluded  that  the  Regulation  and  EASA  created  significant  added 
value  that  could  not  have  been  achieved  otherwise  -  be  it  at  national  level  or  through 
international bodies. The evaluation confirmed the key benefit of an Union-wide regulatory 
framework  which  consists  in  the  provision  of  common  aviation  safety  requirements  in  the 
Union. Due to the increased scope of the Regulation compared with its preceding Regulation 
(EC) No 216/2008, the same benefits could not have been achieved without it. 

 
 
In conclusion, the Regulation and EASA met all evaluation criteria.