Considerations on COM(2021)74 - EU position in the International Civil Aviation Organization as regards notification of differences to Annex 6, Part II, to the Convention on International Civil Aviation - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2021)74 - EU position in the International Civil Aviation Organization as regards notification of differences to Annex 6, Part II, to ... |
|---|---|
| document | COM(2021)74  |
| date | February 22, 2021 |
(2) The Member States are Contracting States to the Chicago Convention and members of the ICAO, while the Union has observer status in certain ICAO bodies. There are seven Member States represented in the ICAO Council.
(3) Pursuant to Article 54 of the Chicago Convention, the ICAO Council may adopt international Standards and Recommended Practices (‘SARPs’), and designate them as Annexes to the Chicago Convention.
(4) 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 ICAO of the differences between its own practice and that established by the international standard.
(5) During its 219th session, held from 2 to 20 March 2020, the ICAO Council adopted several amendments to numerous Annexes to the Chicago Convention in the areas of safety, environment and air navigation, which included Amendment 37 to Annex 6, Part II. ICAO State Letter AN 11/6.3.21-20/31 informing the ICAO Contracting States about the adoption of Amendment 37 to Annex 6, Part II, to the Chicago Convention, requests the States, pursuant to their obligations under Article 38 of the Chicago Convention, to notify ICAO of any differences that may arise.
(6) Amendment 37 to Annex 6, Part II, to the Chicago Convention, adopted by the ICAO Council falls within areas covered by Union law and is therefore under exclusive external Union competence. That amendment falls within the area covered by Regulation (EU) 965/2012 7 .
(7) In this case, Amendment 37 leads to a divergence from Regulation (EU) No 965/2012. That Regulation does not contain the definitions of ‘operations specifications’ and ‘specific approvals’. However, the terms are used with the same meaning. Furthermore, amendment 37 introduced the requirement of a specific approval of the electronic flight bags (EFB) when used in general aviation operations, which will constitute a difference to Regulation (EU) No 965/2012.
(8) As a result, Article 38 of the Chicago Convention would require the notification of differences by the Union Member States in reply to ICAO State Letter AN11/6.3.21-20/31 in the area of harmonisation of terms for authorisations, acceptance and approvals (AAA), that is, the notification of differences with new SARPs stemming from Amendment 37 adopted at the 219th session of the ICAO Council with respect to Annex 6, Part II, to the Chicago Convention.
(9) The differences to be notified in reply to ICAO State Letter AN 11/6.3.21-20/31 have an incidence on the legal effects deployed by the standards established under the Chicago Convention.
(10) It is therefore appropriate to establish the position to be taken on the Union's behalf in response to ICAO State Letter AN 11/6.3.21-20/31, as the adoption of Amendment 37 to Annex 6, Part II, to the Chicago Convention, issued by ICAO will be capable of decisively influencing the content of Union law, namely Commission Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 8 . The Union's position is to be expressed by the Member States of the Union.