Aviation agency stuck on runway

The European Parliament is battling with member states over the role of an EU agency being set up to oversee air safety.

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), based in Cologne, is to begin operations next year, but pressing questions over its mandate have yet to be settled by policymakers.

The organisation’s main role will be to ensure uniform implementation of EU aviation safety rules, to oversee certification procedures and to advise Brussels lawmakers on the drafting of future laws.

But member states are fighting to retain jurisdiction over potentially costly safety checks.

"The problem is that member states want to keep responsibilities and not give up control to EASA," said Austrian Socialist MEP Jörg Leichtfried, who is drafting a report for Parliament on the issue.

Leichtfried criticised the UK in particular for its opposition to EU cabin crew certification standards. "They oppose everything about certifying cabin crew yet 90% of the tasks of cabin crew are safety-related. Some accidents are the result of badly trained cabin crew," he said.

Parliament is currently attempting to draft a compromise EASA mandate with the Council of Ministers and the European Commission.

Philip von Schöppenthau, secretary-general of the European Cockpit Association, a lobby representing flight crew unions, raised concerns about the Council’s proposals on pre-flight inspections.

Under the Council’s proposals, inspections would be required only once before a "consistent series of consecutive flights", instead of before each flight. "From a safety perspective this is simply unacceptable," said von Schöppenthau. "We should not use EASA to create loopholes in aviation safety."

Under the Council’s proposals, he said, member states would not have to gain EASA approval for changes in flight-time limitation rules affecting pilots. "What we have is carte blanche for member states to deviate from EASA rules," he said. EASA officials were unavailable for comment.

The European Parliament is battling with member states over the role of an EU agency being set up to oversee air safety.