Proposal for a COUNCIL DECISION on the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union in the 233rd session of the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as regards the proposed amendments to Chapter 2 (“Entry and Departure of aircraft”), Chapter 3 (“Entry and Departure of persons and their baggage”), Chapter 6 (“International airports – Facilities and services for traffic”) and Chapter 8 (“Facilitation provisions covering specific subjects”) Paragraph C (“Facilitation of search, rescue, accident investigation and salvage”) Paragraph E (“Establishment of national facilitation programmes”), Paragraph F (“Facilitation of transport of persons with disabilities”) and Paragraph G (“Assistance to aircraft accident victims and their families”) as included in Amendment 30 of Annex 9 – Facilitation to the Convention on International Civil Aviation (‘the Chicago Convention’)
Date: 2024-10-16
Institutions: Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, European Commission
Subjects: International Civil Aviation Organisation, aid to disaster victims, air traffic, civil aviation, international convention, physically disabled person, revision of an agreement, simplification of formalities, transport accident

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 16.10.2024  COM(2024) 478 final 2024/0262 (NLE)  Proposal for a COUNCIL DECISION on the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union in the 233rd session of the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as regards the proposed amendments to Chapter 2 (“Entry and Departure of aircraft”), Chapter 3 (“Entry and Departure of persons and their baggage”), Chapter 6 (“International airports – Facilities and services for traffic”) and Chapter 8 (“Facilitation provisions covering specific subjects”) Paragraph C (“Facilitation of search, rescue, accident investigation and salvage”) Paragraph E (“Establishment of national facilitation programmes”), Paragraph F (“Facilitation of transport of persons with disabilities”) and Paragraph G (“Assistance to aircraft accident victims and their families”) as included in Amendment 30 of Annex 9 – Facilitation to the Convention on International Civil Aviation (‘the Chicago Convention’)  
 
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

1. 

SUBJECT MATTER OF THE PROPOSAL 

This proposal concerns: 
(i)  the  position  to  be  taken  on  the  Union’s  behalf  in  the  233rd  session  of the  Council  of  the 
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for the proposed amendments to Annex 9 – 
Facilitation  of  the  Convention  on  International  Civil  Aviation  concerning  the  facilitation 
of landside  formalities  for  clearance  of  aircraft  and  passengers,  goods  and  mail,  with 
respect to the requirements of customs, immigration, public health and agriculture authorities, 
in  particular  the  amendments  to:  Chapter  2  (“Entry  and  Departure  of  aircraft”),  Chapter  3 
(“Entry  and  Departure  of  persons  and  their  baggage”),  Chapter  6  (“International  airports  – 
Facilities and services for traffic”)  and  Chapter 8 (“Facilitation provisions  covering specific 
subjects”)  Paragraph  C  (“Facilitation  of  search,  rescue,  accident  investigation  and  salvage”) 
Paragraph E (“Establishment of national facilitation programmes”),Paragraph F (“Facilitation 
of  transport  of  person  with  disabilities”)  and  Paragraph  G  (“Assistance  to  aircraft  accident 
victims  and  their  families”).  These  proposed  amendments  are  contained  in  Amendment  30 
which is included in the State Letter EC 6/3 − 24/67 dated 19 June 2024 and which will be 
voted  at  the  233rd  session  of  the  Council  of  the  International  Civil  Aviation  Organization 
(ICAO).  

(ii) the position to be taken on the Union’s behalf after the ICAO announces the  adoption of 
the Amendment 30 to Annex 9 Facilitation in respective State Letters, inviting its contracting 
States to notify any differences or compliance with the adopted measures. 

2. 

CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 

2.1. 

The Convention on International Civil Aviation 

The Convention on International Civil Aviation (‘the Chicago Convention’) aims to regulate 
international  air  transport.  The  Chicago  Convention  entered  into  force  on  4  April  1947  and 
established the International Civil Aviation Organization. 

All EU Member States are Parties to the Chicago Convention. 

2.2. 

The International Civil Aviation Organization 

The International Civil Aviation Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations. 
The aims and objectives of the Organization are to develop the principles and techniques of 
international  air  navigation  and  to  foster  the  planning  and  development  of  international  air 
transport.  

The ICAO Council is a permanent body of ICAO with a membership of 36 contracting States 
elected by the ICAO Assembly for a period of three years. For the period of 2022-2025, there 
are  six  EU  Member  States  represented  in  the  ICAO  Council  namely  Austria,  France, 
Germany, Italy, Romania and Spain. 

Mandatory  functions  of  the  ICAO  Council,  listed  in  Article  54  of  the  Chicago  Convention, 
include  the  adoption  of  international  standards  and  recommended  practices  (SARPs), 
designated as Annexes to the Chicago Convention.  

Pursuant to Article 37 j) of the Chicago Convention, the ICAO shall adopt and amend from 
time  to  time,  as  may  be  necessary,  international  standards  and  recommended  practices  and 
procedures dealing with customs and immigration procedures. 

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Pursuant to Article 90 of the Chicago Convention, the adoption by the Council of the Annexes 
requires  the vote of two-thirds of the Council at a meeting called for that purpose and shall 
then  be  submitted  by  the  Council  to  each  contracting  State.  Any  such  Annex  or  any 
amendment  of  an  Annex  shall  become  effective  within  three  months  after  its  submission  to 
the ICAO contracting States, or at the end of such longer period of time as the ICAO Council 
may  prescribe,  unless  in  the  meantime  a  majority  of  contracting  ICAO  States  register  their 
disapproval. 

Pursuant to Article 38 of the Chicago Convention, any State which finds it  impracticable to 
comply in all respects with any such international standard or procedure, or to bring its own 
regulations  or  practices  into  full  accord  with  respect  to  any  such  international  standard  or 
procedures  or  which  deems  it  necessary  to  adopt  regulations  or  practices  differing  in  any 
particular  respect  from  those  established  by  an  international  standard,  shall  give  immediate 
notification to the ICAO of the differences between its own practice and that established by 
the  international  standard.  In  the  case  of  amendments  to  international  standards,  any  State 
which  does  not  make  the  appropriate  amendments  to  its  own  regulations  or  practices  shall 
give  notice  to  the  Council  within  sixty  days  of  the  adoption  of  the  amendment  to  the 
international standards or indicate the action which it proposes to take. In any such case, the 
Council  shall  make  immediate  notification  to  all  other  states  of  the  difference  which  exists 
between  one  or  more  features  of  an  international  standard  and  the  corresponding  national 
practice of that State. 

The envisaged act of ICAO and its relationship with the existing Union rules 

2.3. 
During  its  233rd  or  any  consequent  session,  the  ICAO  Council  is  expected  to  consider  and 
adopt Amendment 30 to Annex 9 – Facilitation as referred to in the State Letter EC 6/3-24/67 
arising from the review of Annex 9 – Facilitation conducted by the Facilitation (FAL) Panel 
during its Thirteenth Meeting which was held from 26 February to 1 March 2024 (FALP/13).  

– 

– 

– 

Annex  9  -  Facilitation  is  based  on  10  articles  of  the  Chicago  Convention  which 
require that the civil aviation community comply with laws governing the inspection 
of  aircraft,  cargo  and  passengers  by  authorities  concerned  with  customs, 
immigration,  agriculture  and  public  health.  Annex  9  pertains  specifically  to 
facilitation of landside formalities for clearance of aircraft and commercial traffic for 
both  passengers  and  cargo,  through  the  requirements,  inter  alia  of  customs, 
immigration, public health and agriculture authorities. 

Amendment  30  to  Annex  9  includes,  among  others,  new  and/or  revised  provisions 
relating  to  entry  and  departure  of  persons  and  their  baggage,  international  airports’ 
facilities and services for traffic, as well as the relocation of health-related provisions 
from other chapters to the new Chapter 10 of the Annex. 

The  envisaged  Amendment  to  be  adopted  by  the  ICAO  Council  will  be  binding 
under international law in accordance with the procedure and time-line laid down in 
Article 90(a) of the Chicago Convention, which provides that: “The adoption by the 
Council  of  the  Annexes  described  in  Article  54,  subparagraph  l),  shall  require  the 
vote of two-thirds of the Council at a meeting called for that purpose and shall then 
be  submitted  by  the  Council  to  each  contracting  State.  Any  such  Annex  or  any 
amendment  of  an  Annex  shall  become  effective  within  three  months  after  its 
submission to the contracting States or at the end of such longer period of time as the 
Council may prescribe, unless in the meantime a majority of the contracting States 
register their disapproval with the Council” 

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– 

Further, the above amendments are capable of decisively influencing the content of 
EU legislation, as explained more in details below.  

The proposed Amendment covers the following areas as follows: 

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– 

– 

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2 

3 

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in relation to Chapter 2 (“Entry and departure of aircraft), Chapter 6 (“International 
Airports – Facilities and services for traffic”), Chapter 8, Paragraph C (“Facilitation 
of search, rescue, accident investigation and salvage”), Paragraph E (“Establishment 
of  national  facilitation  programmes”),  Paragraph  F  (“Facilitation  of  transport  of 
person with  disabilities”) and Paragraph G (“Assistance to  aircraft accident  victims 
and  their  families”)  the  proposals  are  to  amend,  reposition,  or  delete  obsolete 
recommended practices (SARPs) as well as to clarify or simplify some SARPs (e.g. 
SARPs addressed to aircraft operators or airport operators are amended so that they 
are  now  properly  addressed  to  the  Contracting  States).  With  reference  to  the 
amendments  to  Standard  6.3  and  Recommended  practice  6.4  in  Chapter  6,  they  
concern  matters  that  are    regulated  by  Directive  2009/12/EC  of  the  European 
Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 on airport charges1. With reference 
to the amendments to Chapter 8,  they are related to air accident safety investigation 
subject  to  Regulation  (EU)  No  996/20102  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the 
Council  of  20  October  2010  on  the  investigation  and  prevention  of  accidents  and 
incidents  in  civil  aviation.  Those  proposed  amendments  would  not  require  any 
change to the cited Regulation and Directive as Union law is already reflecting them. 

in  relation  to  Chapter  3  (“Entry  and  Departure  of  persons  and  their  baggage”)  the 
proposed amendments add SARPs related to the security of the issuance process for 
electronic Machine Readable Travel  Documents (“eMRTD”)  and update the access 
control  protocol  and  technical  standard  for  encoding  the  facial  image  in  eMRTDs. 
The  amendments  cover  subjects  that  under  EU  law  are  regulated  by  several 
instruments,  including  Directive  (EU)  2019/9973  (on  EU  Emergency  Travel 
Documents). Those amendments would not require any change to the cited Directive 
as Union law is already reflecting them. 

in  relation  to  the  health  related  SARPs  included  in  Annex  9,  the  proposed 
amendments relocate them from different chapters of Annex 9 into one chapter (new 
“Chapter  10”).  The  proposed  amendments  are  largely  editorial  in  nature  and 
streamline the health related SARPs into a more logical order within the new Chapter 
10. The subject matters covered by the SARPs forming the new Chapter 10 of Annex 
9  are  regulated  by  Regulation  (EU)  2022/23714  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of 
the  Council  of  23  November  2022  on  serious  cross-border  threats  to  health.  Those 
amendments  would  not  affect  the  cited  Regulation  as  they  are  of  purerly  editorial 
nature with no legal effects.  

Directive  2009/12/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  11  March  2009  on  airport 
charges (OJ L 70, 14.3.2009, p. 11–16, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2009/12/oj). 
Regulation  (EU)  No 996/2010  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council of  20 October 2010 on 
the  investigation  and  prevention  of  accidents  and  incidents  in  civil  aviation  and  repealing  Directive 
94/56/EC (OJ L 295, 12.11.2010, p. 35–50, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2010/996/oj). 
Council Directive (EU) 2019/997 of 18 June 2019 establishing an EU Emergency Travel Document and 
repealing 
ELI 
96/409/CFSP 
http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2019/997/oj). 
Regulation (EU) 2022/2371 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 November 2022 on 
serious cross-border threats to health and repealing Decision  No 1082/2013/EU (OJ L 314, 6.12.2022, 
p. 26–63, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2022/2371/oj). 

20.6.2019, 

Decision 

163, 

(OJ 

1, 

p. 

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As substantiated above, the envisaged act concerns an area which is already largely covered 
by Union rules and is thus liable to ‘affect common rules or alter their scope’. The envisaged 
Amendment  30  to  Annex  9  therefore  concern  an  area  in  which  the  Union  has  acquired 
exclusive external competence by virtue of the last limb of Article 3(2) TFEU on this matter.  

3. Position to be taken on the Union's behalf. 

3.1. 

Proposed amendments and their relationship with the existing Union rules 

Amendments to Chapter 2 (“Entry and Departure of aircraft”),  Chapter 3 (“Entry and 
Departure  of  persons  and  their  baggage”),  Chapter  6  (“International  airports  – 
Facilities  and  services  for  traffic”)  andChapter  8  (“Facilitation  provisions  covering 
specific  subjects”)  Paragraph  C  (“Facilitation  of  search,  rescue,  accident  investigation 
and  salvage”)  Paragraph  E  (“Establishment  of  national  facilitation  programmes”), 
Paragraph  F  (“Facilitation  of  transport  of  person  with  disabilities”)  and  Paragraph  G 
(“Assistance to aircraft accident victims and their families”) as included in Amendment 
30 of Annex 9 – Facilitation of the Convention on International Civil Aviation  

The proposed amendments, included in Amendment 30 to Annex 9 as referred to in the State 
Letter  EC  6/3-24/67,  cover  subjects  that  are  also  regulated  by  EU  legal  acts  as  cited  in 
paragraph 2.3 and are consistent therwith.  

The  proposed  amendments  would  contribute  to  the  improvement  of  Annex  9  clarity  and 
efficiency thus better pursuing the aim of allowing that the flow of travellers, baggage, cargo, 
and mail is efficient and delivered in a healthy, safe, and secure environment on the ground 
and in the air. The Union acknowledges the need for continuosly reviewing Annex 9 in order 
to keep it updated and able to reflect the evolution of air travel.  

Theferore  the  proposed  position  to  be  taken  on  behalf  of  the  Union  is    to  support  these 
amendments. 

Hence, the position to be taken on the Union’s behalf, provided the ICAO Council adopts the 
proposed amendments  to Annex 9 – Facilitation, should be to not notify any disapproval but 
to comply with the adopted measures in reply to the respective ICAO State Letter.  

Where  Union  legislation  would  deviate  from  the  newly  adopted  ICAO  Standards  after  an 
envisaged date of application of those Standards, the Union position on the differences with 
those  particular  Standards  should  be  notified  to  ICAO  by  Member  States,  on  the  basis  of 
preparatory document submitted in due time by the Commission to the Council for discussion 
and approval,  and setting out the detailed differences for the time necessary to  complete the 
implementation.  

4. 

LEGAL BASIS 

4.1. 

Procedural legal basis 

4.1.1.  Principles 

Article 218(9) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) provides for 
decisions establishing ‘the positions to be adopted on the Union’s behalf in a body set up by 
an  agreement,  when  that  body  is  called  upon  to  adopt  acts  having  legal  effects,  with  the 
exception of acts supplementing or amending the institutional framework of the agreement.’ 

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Article 218(9) TFEU applies regardless of whether the Union is a member of the body or a 
party to the agreement5. 

The concept of ‘acts having legal effects’ includes acts that have legal effects by virtue of the 
rules of international law governing the body in question. It also includes instruments that do 
not  have  a  binding  effect  under  international  law,  but  that  are  ‘capable  of  decisively 
influencing the content of the legislation adopted by the EU legislature’6 since several parts of 
the  proposed  Amendment  fall  within  Union  law  namely:  Directive  2009/12/EC  and 
Regulation (EU) No 996/2010. 

4.1.2.  Application to the present case 

The ICAO Council is a body set up by an agreement, namely the Chicago Convention. 

In  accordance  with  Article  54(l)  of  the  Chicago  Convention,  the  ICAO  Council  adopts 
international SARPs, designated as Annexes to the Chicago Convention. The acts which the 
ICAO Council is called upon to adopt constitute acts having legal effects. The envisaged acts 
will  be  binding  under  international  law  in  accordance  with  Article  90(a)  of  the  Chicago 
Convention.  

Further, as explained above, the envisioned amendments to Annex 9 are capable of decisively 
influencing  the  content  of  Union  legislation  as  they  touch  upon  matters  already  regulated 
thereby, namely: Directive 2009/12/EC and Regulation (EU) No 996/2010.  

The envisaged acts do not supplement or amend the institutional framework of the agreement. 

Therefore,  the  procedural  legal  basis  for  the  proposed  Decision  position  in  respect  of  such 
notifications is Article 218(9) TFEU. 

4.2. 

Substantive legal basis 

4.2.1.  Principles 

The  substantive  legal  basis  for  a  decision  under  Article  218(9)  TFEU  depends  primarily  on 
the objective and content of the envisaged act in respect of which a position is taken on the 
Union's  behalf.  If the  envisaged act  pursues two  aims or has two components  and if one of 
those  aims  or  components  is  identifiable  as  the  main  one,  whereas  the  other  is  merely 
incidental, the decision under Article 218(9) TFEU must be founded on a single  substantive 
legal basis, namely that required by the main or predominant  aim or component. By way of 
exception,  if  it  is  established  that  the  measure  simultaneously  pursues  several  objectives 
which are inseparably linked without one being secondary and indirect in relation to the other, 
the measure may be founded on the corresponding legal bases. 

4.2.2.  Application to the present case 

The envisaged act pursues objectives of common transport policy and at the same by means of 
its specific content, such as the amended rules on the Machine Readable Travel Documents, it 
concerns the area of protection of EU citizens, in particular Union rules on the issuance of EU 
emergency travel documents. However, the ICAO amendments are primarly concerning travel 
documents such as visas and passports and therefore the impact on the Union rules concerning 
EU emergency travel documents is ancilliary.  

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Judgment  of 
ECLI:EU:C:2014:2258, paragraph 64.  
Judgment  of 
ECLI:EU:C:2014:2258, paragraphs 61 to 64.  

the  Court  of  Justice  of  7  October  2014,  Germany  v  Council,  C-399/12, 

the  Court  of  Justice  of  7  October  2014,  Germany  v  Council,  C-399/12, 

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Therefore, the substantive legal basis of the proposed decision is Article 100(2) TFEU. 

4.3. 

Conclusion 

The legal basis of the proposed Council Decision is Article 100(2) TFEU, in conjunction with 
Article 218(9) TFEU. 

5. 

PUBLICATION OF THE ENVISAGED ACT 

For  reasons  of  transparency  and  proper  reference  as  the  proposed  amendments  will  amend 
Annex 9 of the Chicago Convention, it is necessary to publish it in the Official Journal of the 
into  force.
indicating 
European  Union  after 

the  date  of 

its  adoption 

its  entry 

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2024/0262 (NLE) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

on the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union in the 233rd session of the 
Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as regards the 
proposed amendments to Chapter 2 (“Entry and Departure of aircraft”), Chapter 3 
(“Entry and Departure of persons and their baggage”), Chapter 6 (“International 
airports – Facilities and services for traffic”) and Chapter 8 (“Facilitation provisions 
covering specific subjects”) Paragraph C (“Facilitation of search, rescue, accident 
investigation and salvage”) Paragraph E (“Establishment of national facilitation 
programmes”), Paragraph F (“Facilitation of transport of persons with disabilities”) 
and Paragraph G (“Assistance to aircraft accident victims and their families”) as 
included in Amendment 30 of Annex 9 – Facilitation to the Convention on International 
Civil Aviation (‘the Chicago Convention’) 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European  Union,  and  in  particular 
Article 100(2), in conjunction with Article 218(9) thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

(5) 

(6) 

The  Convention  on  International  Civil  Aviation  (‘the  Chicago  Convention’)  which 
regulates international air transport, entered into force on 4 April 1947. It established 
the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). 

All Member States are Contracting States to the Chicago Convention and members of 
the ICAO, while the Union has observer status in certain ICAO bodies. For the period 
2022-2025, there are six Member States represented in the ICAO Council. 

Pursuant to Article 37 j) of the Chicago Convention, the ICAO shall adopt and amend 
from  time  to  time,  as  may  be  necessary,  international  standards  and  recommended 
practices and procedures dealing with customs and immigration procedures. Pursuant 
to Article 54(l) of the Chicago Convention, the ICAO Council may adopt international 
Standards and Recommended Practices (‘SARPs’), and designate them as Annexes to 
the Chicago Convention. 
The  ICAO  Council,  at  its  233rd  session,  is  to  adopt  Amendment  30  to  Annex  9  – 
Facilitation to the Chicago Convention.  

The  main  purposes  of  the  Amendment  30  to  Annex  9  -  Facilitation  to  the  Chicago 
Convention included in the State Letter EC 6/3 − 24/67 is to to improve the clarity and 
consequently the consistency and efficiency of Annex 9.  

Amendment  30  to  Annex  9  -  Facilitation  to  the  Chicago  Convention  includes 
amendments to Chapter 2 (“Entry and Departure of aircraft”),  Chapter 3 (“Entry and 
Departure  of  persons  and  their  baggage”),  Chapter  6  (“International  airports  – 
Facilities  and  services  for  traffic”)  and  Chapter  8  (“Facilitation  provisions  covering 
specific subjects”) Paragraph C (“Facilitation of search, rescue, accident investigation 

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and  salvage”)  Paragraph  E  (“Establishment  of  national  facilitation  programmes”), 
Paragraph  F  (“Facilitation  of  transport  of  person  with  disabilities”)  and  Paragraph  G 
(“Assistance  to  aircraft  accident  victims  and  their  families”).  In  particular,  the 
proposals  are  to  amend,  reposition,  or  delete  obsolete  SARPs  as  well  as  to  amend 
SARPs  addressed  to  aircraft  operators  or  airport  operators  so  that  they  are  now 
properly  addressed  to  the  Contracting  States.  The  amendments  to  Standard  6.3  and 
Recommended  practice  6.4  in  Chapter  6  concern  matters  regulated  by  Directive 
2009/12/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  11  March  2009  on 
airport  charges7.  With  reference  to  Chapter  3  (“Entry  and  Departure  of  persons  and 
their  baggage”)  the  proposed  amendments  add  SARPs  related  to  the  security  of  the 
issuance process for electronic Machine Readable Travel Documents (“eMRTD”) and 
update the access control protocol and technical standard for encoding the facial image 
in eMRTDs. Those amendments incidentally cover also subjects that under Union law 
are regulated by Directive (EU) 2019/9978. Finally, with reference to the amendments 
to  Chapter  8,  ICAO  amendments  are  related  to  air  accident  safety  investigation 
covered  by  Regulation  (EU)  No  996/20109  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the 
Council  of  20  October  2010  on  the  investigation  and  prevention  of  accidents  and 
incidents in civil aviation. Those amendments would not require any change to Union 
law as it is already reflecting them. 

It is appropriate to establish the position to be taken on the Union's behalf within the 
ICAO  Council  as  the  Amendment  30  to  Annex  9  –  Facilitation  to  the  Chicago 
Convention will be binding under international law in accordance with Article 90(a) of 
the Chicago Convention and it is of relevance to Union legislation, namely: Directive 
2009/12/EC and Regulation (EU) No 996/2010. 

Pursuant  to  Article  38  of  the  Chicago  Convention,  any  State  which  finds  it 
impracticable  to  comply  in  all  respects  with  any  such  international  standard  or 
procedure, or to bring its own regulations or practices into full accord with any such 
international standard or procedures or which deems it necessary to adopt regulations 
or  practices  differing  in  any  particular  respect  from  those  established  by  an 
international  standard,  should  give  immediate  notification  to  the  ICAO  of  the 
differences between its own practice and that established by the international standard. 
The Union's position during the 233rd session of the ICAO Council or any consequent 
session with regard to the adoption of the proposed amendments to Chapter 2 (“Entry 
and  Departure  of  aircraft”),  Chapter  3  (“Entry  and  Departure  of  persons  and  their 
baggage”), Chapter 6 (“International airports – Facilities and services for traffic”) and 
Chapter  8  (“Facilitation  provisions  covering  specific  subjects”)  Paragraph  C 
(“Facilitation  of  search,  rescue,  accident  investigation  and  salvage”)  Paragraph  E 
(“Establishment  of  national  facilitation  programmes”),  Paragraph  F  (“Facilitation  of 
transport  of  person  with  disabilities”)  and  Paragraph  G  (“Assistance  to  aircraft 
accident  victims  and  their  families”)  contained  in  Amendment  30  to  Annex  9  - 
Facilitation  to  the  Chicago  Convention  included  in  the  State  Letter  EC  6/3  −  24/67 

Directive  2009/12/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  11  March  2009  on  airport 
charges (OJ L 70, 14.3.2009, p. 11–16, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2009/12/oj). 
Council Directive (EU) 2019/997 of 18 June 2019 establishing an EU Emergency Travel Document and 
repealing 
ELI 
96/409/CFSP 
http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2019/997/oj). 
Regulation  (EU)  No 996/2010  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council of  20 October 2010 on 
the  investigation  and  prevention  of  accidents  and  incidents  in  civil  aviation  and  repealing  Directive 
94/56/EC (OJ L 295, 12.11.2010, p. 35–50, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2010/996/oj). 

20.6.2019, 

Decision 

163, 

(OJ 

1, 

p. 

L 

(7) 

(8) 

(9) 

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should be to vote to support these amendments in their entirety. This position shall be 
expressed by the Member States of the Union that are members of the ICAO Council, 
acting jointly in the interest of the Union.  

(10)  The Union’s position after the adoption of Amendment 30 to Annex 9 - Facilitation to 
the  Chicago  Convention  by  the  ICAO  Council,  to  be  announced  by  the  ICAO 
Secretary General via  an ICAO State Letter procedure, should be to  not  register any 
disapproval  and  to  comply  with  the  amendments.  Where  Union  legislation  would 
deviate from the newly adopted SARPs after an envisaged date of application of those 
SARPs,  a  difference  with  those  particular  SARPs  should  be  notified  to  ICAO.  The 
Union position with respect of such difference should be based on a written document 
submitted  by  the  Commission  to  the  Council  for  discussion  and  approval.  This 
position should be expressed by all the Member States of the Union, acting jointly in 
the interest of the Union. 

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: 

1.  

2.  

Article 1 

The  position  to  be  taken  on  the  Union's  behalf  in  the  233rd  session  of  the  ICAO 
Council,  or  in  one  of  the  consequent  sessions,  shall  be  to  vote  to  support  in  their 
entirety the proposed amendments to Chapter 2 (“Entry and Departure of aircraft”), 
Chapter  3  (“Entry  and  Departure  of  persons  and  their  baggage”),  Chapter  6 
(“International  airports  –  Facilities  and  services  for  traffic”)  and  Chapter  8 
(“Facilitation  provisions  covering  specific  subjects”)  Paragraph  C  (“Facilitation  of 
search, rescue, accident investigation and salvage”) Paragraph E (“Establishment of 
national  facilitation  programmes”),Paragraph  F  (“Facilitation  of  transport  of  person 
with disabilities”) and Paragraph G (“Assistance to aircraft accident victims and their 
families”)  contained  in  Amendment  30  to  Annex  9  –  Facilitation  to  the  Chicago 
Convention  included in the State Letter EC 6/3 − 24/67.  

The position to be taken on the Union’s behalf, provided the ICAO Council adopts 
without any substantial change the proposed amendment to Annex 9 – Facilitation to 
the  Chicago  Convention  referred  to  in  paragraph  1,  shall  be  to  not  register  any 
disapproval  and  to  notify  compliance  with  the  adopted  measure  in  reply  to  the 
respective ICAO State Letter. Where Union legislation would deviate from the newly 
adopted SARPs after the envisaged date of application of those SARPs, a difference 
with  those  particular  SARPs  shall  be  notified  to  ICAO,  in  accordance  with 
Article 38 of the Chicago Convention. 

To this effect, the Commission shall, in due time and at least two months before any 
deadline set by the ICAO for the notification of differences, submit to the Council, 
for  discussion  and  approval,  a  preparatory  document  setting  out  the  detailed 
differences to be notified to the ICAO on the Union’s behalf by the Member States. 

Article 2 

The position referred to in Article 1(1) shall be expressed by the Member States of the Union 
that are members of the ICAO Council, acting jointly in the interest of the Union. 

The  position  referred  to  in  Article  1(2)  shall  be  expressed  by  all  the  Member  States  of  the 
Union, acting jointly in the interest of the Union. 

EN 

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This Decision is addressed to the Member States. 

Done at Brussels, 

Article 3 

For the Council 
The President 

EN 

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