CELEX: 32006R1962
Language: en
Date: 2006-12-21 00:00:00
Title: Commission regulation (EC) No 1962/2006 of 21 December 2006 in application of Article 37 of the Act of Accession of Bulgaria to the European Union

L 408/8           EN                         Official Journal of the European Union                            30.12.2006
                             COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1962/2006
                                                  of 21 December 2006
   in application of Article 37 of the Act of Accession of Bulgaria to the European Union
   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)     Article 37 of the Act of Accession of Bulgaria and Romania allows the Commission to take
           appropriate safeguard measures in order to address a serious breach of the functioning of the
           internal market, or an imminent risk of such a breach, resulting from a failure to implement
           commitments undertaken by Bulgaria in the context of accession negotiations with regard to
           any Community sectoral policy which concerns economic activities with cross border effect;
           there is an imminent risk that Bulgaria's failure to implement its commitments to comply
           with regulations will cause a serious breach of the internal market for air transport;
   (2)     The Community has adopted on the basis of Article 80 of the EC Treaty a common air
           transport policy, which includes rules establishing an internal market for the provision of air
           transport services1 as well as common rules in order to establish and maintain a high
           uniform level of civil aviation safety in Europe2. Both sets of rules have a direct impact on
           the supply of air transport services between the Member States.
   (3)     In the context of the accession negotiations Bulgaria committed itself to fully apply the
           Community rules in the area of air transport as from the date of its accession to the European
           Union;
   1
           OJ L 240, 24.8.1992, p. 1–7, Council Regulation (EEC) No 2407/92 of 23 July 1992 on licensing of air
           carriers, Council Regulation (EEC) No 2408/92 of 23 July 1992 on access for Community air carriers to intra-
           Community air routes OJ L 240, 24.8.1992, p. 8–14 and Council Regulation (EEC) N° 2409/92 of 23 July
                                 ,
           1992 on fares and rates for air services, OJ L 240, 24.8.1992, p. 15
   2
           OJ L 240, 7.9.2002, p. 1-21, Regulation (EC) N° 1592/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of
           15 July 2002 on common rules in the field of civil aviation and establishing a European Aviation Safety
           Agency, modified by Regulation (EC) N° 1643/2003, OJ L 245, 29.9.2003, p. 7–9 and Regulation (EC) N°
           1701/2003, OJ L 243, 27.9.2003, p. 5–5
 ---pagebreak--- 30.12.2006        EN                     Official Journal of the European Union                        L 408/9
    (4)    Following the signature of the Treaty of Accession on 25 April 2005, the competent
           authority for civil aviation (CAA) of Bulgaria was visited by the European Aviation Safety
           Agency (EASA) from 16 to 20 May 2005 to verify the capacity of that authority to apply the
           requirements of Community law as well as standards of the Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA)
           in the area of aviation safety. The visit revealed significant and persistent shortcomings in
           the administrative capacity of the Bulgarian CAA to ensure the necessary safety oversight in
           order to implement the Community requirements on certification of airworthiness and
           maintenance of aircraft;
    (5)    In view of the serious deficiencies identified by EASA and the JAA Bulgaria was refused in
           October 2005 mutual recognition in the relevant safety areas within the JAA system;
    (6)    The corrective actions submitted by the Bulgarian CAA in October and November 2005, as
           well as in May 2006, were not deemed satisfactory by EASA, which was well noted by the
           Commission;
    (7)    In its Communication adopted on 26 September 2006 on the state of preparedness for EU
           membership of Bulgaria and Romania3 the Commission confirmed that Bulgaria had made
           further progress to complete its preparations for membership, but also identified a number of
           areas of continuing concern, among which aviation safety, where the Commission would
           take appropriate measures to ensure the proper functioning of the internal market, unless
           Bulgaria took the necessary corrective actions;
    (8)    The Commission's Communication urged Bulgaria, in order to comply with the relevant
           Community aviation safety rules, to submit a corrective action plan and implement it within
           a strict timetable, in close cooperation with, and under guidance from EASA to redress all
           safety shortcomings. The report announced that EASA would verify the implementation of
           this plan by means of another inspection before Bulgaria's accession. The Commission's
           Communication concluded that unless Bulgaria took the necessary corrective actions, it
           risked that the Commission, at its own initiative or at the request of a Member State,
           restricted access to the internal aviation market; that furthermore, Bulgarian registered
           aircraft which did not comply with EU civil aviation safety rules could be subject to
           appropriate safeguard measures;
    (9)    In the light of the Commission's Communication, EASA was requested to carry out the
           inspection of the Bulgarian CAA. This inspection took place from 27 November to 1st
           December 2006; the purpose of the inspection was to evaluate whether the competent
           authority for civil aviation of Bulgaria was prepared to implement the common rules in the
           field of aviation safety that shall enter into force in Bulgaria as of 1st January 2007, and to
           evaluate the progress made in the implementation of the corrective actions submitted by that
           authority after the first visit of EASA to address safety shortcomings established during that
           visit.
    (10)   The report of this inspection established by EASA confirms the shortcomings evidenced
           previously in the administrative capacity of the Bulgarian CAA to ensure the necessary
    3
           Commission Communication COM(2006) 549, 26 September 2006
 ---pagebreak--- L 408/10        EN                         Official Journal of the European Union                                30.12.2006
         safety oversight in order to implement the Community requirements on certification, of
         airworthiness and maintenance of aircraft and concludes that that the Bulgarian CAA will
         not be in a position to ensure compliance with Regulation N° 1592/2002 and its
         implementing rules Commission Regulations 1702/20034 and 2042/20035 as of the date of
         entry into force of the Act of Accession;
   (11)  In view of Bulgaria's failure to implement its commitment to ensure compliance with
         Regulation (EC) N° 1592/2002 and its implementing rules as of the date of entry into force
         of the Treaty of Accession, it should be provided that the certificates issued by the Bulgarian
         CAA shall not benefit from the mutual recognition stipulated in Articles 8 and 57 of
         Regulation (EC) No 1592/2002.
   (12)  Bulgaria's failure to implement its commitment to ensure compliance with Regulation (EC)
         N° 1592/2002 and its implementing regulations by the date of entry into force of the Treaty
         of Accession may lead to distortions of competition between the carriers licensed by other
         Member States and the carriers licensed by Bulgaria, should the latter be granted
         unrestricted access to the Community’s internal market. Distortions of competition could
         result in particular from the fact that air carriers licensed by the Bulgarian CAA would be
         granted unrestricted access to routes within the Community without fulfilling all the
         requirements of the rules establishing an internal market for the provision of air transport
         services, notably those on safety, while their competitors would continue to be subject to
         such requirements. Moreover, granting such access to air carriers licensed by the Bulgarian
         CAA could lead to an expansion of the operations currently performed by those carriers into,
         from to or within other Member States, thereby creating additional safety risks.
   (13)  For these reasons it is appropriate, in order to prevent an increase of such risks, to provide
         that the carriers licensed by the Bulgarian authorities will not be considered as “Community
         carriers” for the purposes of Regulation (EEC) N° 2408/92.
   (14)  This measure is without prejudice to any further measures that the Commission may be
         required to impose in accordance with Regulation (EC) N° 2111/20056;
   4
         OJ L 243, 27.9.2003, p. 6–79, Commission Regulation (EC) No 1702/2003 of 24 September 2003 laying down
         implementing rules for the airworthiness and environmental certification of aircraft and related products, parts
         and appliances, as well as for the certification of design and production organisations, modified by
         Commission Regulation N° 381/2005, OJ L 61, 8.3.2005, p. 3–3, and Commission Regulation N° 706/2006,
         OJ L 122, 9.5.2006, p. 16–16.
   5
         OJ L 315, 28.11.2003, p. 1–165 Commission Regulation (EC) No 2042/2003 of 20 November 2003 on the
                                           ,
         continuing airworthiness of aircraft and aeronautical products, parts and appliances, and on the approval of
         organisations and personnel involved in these tasks, modified by Commission Regulation N° 707/2006, OJ L
         122, 9.5.2006, p. 17–18
   6
         OJ L 344, 27.12.2005, p.15-22, Regulation (EC) No 2111/2005 of 14 December 2005 of the European
         Parliament and of the Council on the establishment of a Community list of air carriers subject to an operating
         ban within the Community and on informing air transport passengers of the identity of the operating air carrier,
         and repealing Article 9 of Directive 2004/36/EC.
 ---pagebreak--- 30.12.2006         EN                    Official Journal of the European Union                    L 408/11
    HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
                                                        Article 1
    Articles 8 and 57 of Regulation (EC) N° 1592/2002 shall not apply with respect to certificates
    issued by the competent authority of Bulgaria.
                                                        Article 2
    Notwithstanding Article 2(b) of Regulation (EEC) N° 2408/92, air carriers with an operating
    licence granted by the competent authority of Bulgaria shall not be considered as a ‘Community air
    carrier’ for the purposes of that regulation.
                                                        Article 3
    The Commission shall review whether the continued application of this Regulation is still necessary
    upon receipt of a duly motivated request from of Bulgaria, or on its own initiative, at least once
    every twelve months from the date of entry into force of this regulation.
    This Regulation shall enter into force only subject to and on the date of entry into force of the
    Treaty of Accession of Bulgaria.
    This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
    Done at Brussels, 21 December 2006.
                                                      For the Commission
                                                      Jacques BARROT
                                                      Vice-President