Fact Sheets on the European Union
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Aviation safety

This fact sheet outlines the EU framework for civil aviation safety, explaining the development of common safety rules, the role of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), and cooperation with international organisations such as the International Civil Aviation Organization. It also highlights key mechanisms for monitoring and enforcing safety standards, international cooperation and recent initiatives such as the Single European Sky and the EU drone strategy.

Legal basis

Objectives of EU policy on aviation safety

A single market for aviation was created in the 1990s, removing commercial restrictions for airlines flying within the EU (see 3.4.6). This opening up of the aviation market required common rules on aviation safety, to ensure uniform, high safety standards for passengers and crew across all EU Member States (see also 3.4.7).

Development of EU rules on aviation safety

Globally, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)[1] sets minimum aviation safety standards. However, they are not mandatory, making compliance contingent on the willingness of the ICAO member states.

The creation of a European single market in aviation ensures that all passengers benefit from the same high level of safety regardless of their EU destination. As a result, national rules have been replaced by binding common EU rules. In the same vein, national regulatory authorities and voluntary cooperation bodies, notably the former Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA)[2], have been replaced by an EU-level mechanism linking national civil aviation authorities, the European Commission and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)[3]. Since 2003, EASA has been developing regulatory provisions in the field, providing a foundation for Commission proposals for legislative acts. The Commission, EASA and the competent national authorities mutually monitor the application of these rules within their respective spheres of competence.

The common civil aviation safety rules are based on the standards and recommendations adopted by ICAO, although they tend to be more stringent. They have been gradually extended to cover the entire air transport sector, ensuring a uniform, high level of safety throughout the EU aviation market.

Since 1994, the ICAO principles relating to the investigation of civil aviation accidents have been part of EU law (Directive 94/56/EC, replaced by Regulation (EU) No 996/2010). Investigations must be fully independent and focus only on determining the causes of accidents and preventing future occurrences, without assigning responsibility. The same preventive and non-punitive logic underpins the rules governing safety-related occurrence reporting in civil aviation (Directive 2003/42/EC on occurrence reporting, Regulation (EC) No 1321/2007 on the integration of civil aviation occurrence information into a central repository and Regulation (EC) No1330/2007 on the dissemination of information on civil aviation occurrences). Those rules were replaced in 2014 by a regulation on the reporting, analysis and follow-up of occurrences in civil aviation. Since 2005, any problems identified within the air transport system must be declared to the competent national authorities, who subsequently report them to EASA, with the relevant reports being stored and disseminated for the purpose of analysis.

Since 2003[4], common rules have governed airworthiness, encompassing aircraft design, construction and maintenance. In 2008, the rules were broadened to include air operations and aircrew training, defining the procedures for aircraft operation. In 2009, they were further expanded to include the safety of airport operations, air traffic management and the provision of air navigation services. All the rules apply equally to aircraft and aircraft parts as well as to organisations and personnel involved in their design, construction, maintenance and operation, including aircraft and carriers from non-EU countries that are active in EU.

In 2015, the Commission proposed strengthening common rules in civil aviation to take into account, for example, the development of unmanned aircraft (drones) and the interdependence between aviation safety and other areas, such as security and environmental protection. The proposal extended EASA’s competence in fields such as security (including cybersecurity) and the environment. It also suggested some changes to EASA’s structure, e.g. the creation of an Executive Board to assist the Management Board and the Executive Director. Importantly, two additional sources of revenue were proposed by EASA: grants and air navigation charges for tasks related to air traffic management and air navigation services. Extensive discussions on this proposal between Parliament and the Council led to the adoption of the EASA Basic Regulation in 2008. The EASA Basic Regulation was further updated in 2018 by introducing provisions on drones and cybersecurity and expanding the responsibilities of the EASA.

The Safety Assessment of Foreign Aircraft (SAFA) programme, launched in 1996 by the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC)[5], aimed to harmonise inspections of foreign aircraft (both European and non-European) at the airports of the ICAO member states, ensuring compliance with its minimum safety requirements[6]. As of 2006, the SAFA Directive, later replaced by the 2008 EASA Basic Regulation, made the SAFA programme mandatory for EU Member States. Since 2014, aircraft from EASA countries have been subject to inspections based on the agency standards, which may be more restrictive, and the Safety Assessment of Community Aircraft inspections governed by regulation on technical requirements and administrative procedures related to air operations. EASA keeps a centralised record of inspection reports. Deficiencies identified can result in operational restrictions and ultimately the blacklisting of air carriers, effectively banning them from EU airports on safety grounds. The blacklist was introduced in 2005 by a regulation on the establishment of a list of air carriers subject to an operating ban. It is regularly updated, via legislation amending the regulation on air carriers subject to an operating ban, and published to keep passengers, air ticket sellers and the competent authorities informed.

Furthermore, since November 2016, all non-EU operators wishing to operate flights to the EU must prove that they comply with ICAO safety standards. This proof takes the form of authorisation issued by EASA, as laid down by a regulation on air operations of non-EU operators.

The content of the blacklist demonstrates the need to improve civil aviation safety in certain regions of the world. To address this, the EU collaborates with ICAO and provides support to countries struggling to establish effective air safety systems. This led to the creation of the European Common Aviation Area Agreement (ECAA) in 2006, to integrate the EU’s south-eastern European neighbours (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo), as well as Norway and Iceland, into the EU’s internal aviation market. The ECAA has significantly enhanced connectivity.

Switzerland is not part of the ECAA agreement but has its own aviation agreement with the EU, namely the EU-Switzerland Air Transport Agreement, which integrates Switzerland into the EU’s internal air transport market.

The EU has also signed the following aviation agreements, to provide a regulatory framework for various areas, including high security standards, the safeguarding of passenger rights, and competition:

To strengthen air relations with the eastern neighbourhood countries, the EU has signed agreements aiming to deepen economic, regulatory and institutional cooperation:

International air safety cooperation also aims to facilitate trade in products and services, which may be hampered by varying national technical standards. Therefore, the EU has concluded mutual recognition agreements on safety levels with its main aviation partners – the United States, Canada and Brazil. EASA, for its part, has concluded working arrangements for specific projects with industrial partners from countries outside such mutual recognition agreements. As a result, products and services covered by these agreements and arrangements can be freely traded by the countries concerned.

Where cooperation between the EU and its Member States and a non-EU country is directed toward the mutual recognition of certificates, a bilateral aviation safety agreement is signed. So far, the EU has reached such agreements with the United States, Canada, Brazil, China and Japan. In October 2021, the EU signed an aviation agreement with Ukraine to promote high standards in areas such as aviation safety, security and air traffic management.

On 22 September 2020, the Commission proposed an upgrade to the Single European Sky initiative, which was adopted by the Council and Parliament in the autumn of 2024 as the Single European Sky Regulation.

On 29 November 2022, the Commission adopted a drone strategy setting out a vision and a plan for the future growth of the European drone market. It sets out technical requirements for unmanned aircraft or drones and builds on the EU’s safety framework. The new plan outlines how Europe can expand commercial drone operations while offering new opportunities for the drone sector.

Role of the European Parliament

Parliament has actively supported the establishment of a robust European civil aviation safety system, with a strong focus on the effectiveness of EASA, and on air passengers’ right to information.

Parliament had consistently viewed the SAFA Directive as a means of holding airlines accountable by publicly revealing instances where they failed to meet international safety standards. Parliament also believed that the Commission should have the authority to make measures, imposed by one Member State following a SAFA inspection, applicable throughout the EU. These stances paved the way for the establishment of the blacklist. Parliament made the publication of the blacklist compulsory and stipulated that passengers are entitled to reimbursement or re-routing in the event of a flight cancellation resulting from an airline’s placement on that list.

From the outset, Parliament demanded that EASA be independent in technical matters and hold wider responsibilities, which were finally granted in 2008. Parliament empowered EASA with effective enforcement and deterrent powers by authorising it to impose financial penalties proportional to violations. The Committee on Transport and Tourism regularly invites EASA representatives to exchange views on air safety topics. These include the links between civil aviation safety and various socio-economic factors, the mutual recognition of certificates and cooperation with the US Federal Aviation Administration, the integration of unmanned aerial vehicles into EU airspace, and the effects of global pandemics and military conflicts on air safety in Europe.

In 2016, Parliament also welcomed the Commission proposal to review the 2008 EASA Basic Regulation, aimed at achieving the highest levels of safety in aviation. It emphasised the need for provisions to facilitate EASA’s adaptation to new aviation developments such as increased air traffic, the widespread use of drones, the emergence of conflict zones on Europe’s doorstep and increasing technological complexity in aviation. In 2017, it called on the Commission and the Council to equip EASA with sufficient resources and staff to maintain high safety standards and enhance its international influence. Extensive work by Parliament’s Committee on Transport and Tourism helped shape the new EASA Basic Regulation, which was adopted in 2018.

Other key European Parliament contributions in this field include:

This fact sheet is prepared by the European Parliament’s Policy Department on Transport, Employment and Social Affairs. For more information, please visit the website of the Committee on Transport and Tourism.

 

[1]ICAO is a specialised agency of the United Nations, established under the Convention on International Civil Aviation of December 1944 (also known as the ‘Chicago Convention’), to which 193 countries have now acceded. ICAO adopts standards and recommended practices for its member states, but there is no binding mechanism to ensure they are followed.
[2]The Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) was an informal body established to facilitate cooperation between the various civil aviation regulatory authorities of most EU and non-EU countries. It also developed safety standards and procedures, which each state party could apply at its discretion. The JAA, which had 43 member countries at its peak and operated from 1970 (the year Airbus was launched) to 2009, became obsolete for EU Member States due to the adoption of binding and directly applicable common civil aviation safety rules.
[3]Technical regulations or air traffic management and air navigation services are also developed by Eurocontrol and other standardisation bodies such as EUROCAE, with Eurocontrol partially handling implementation. Expansion of common rules on aviation safety and of EASA’s competences in these areas clarified the roles: EASA is responsible for drawing up technical regulations and Eurocontrol carries out operational tasks related to the Single European Sky (see  3.4.8).
[4]In 1991, Regulation (EC) No 3922/91 achieved minimal harmonisation of technical requirements using the JAA’s hard-won arrangements.
[5]The ECAC, an informal grouping of 44 European civil aviation authorities, facilitates the harmonisation of policies and practice, as well as international relations, although it lacks regulatory powers.
[6]The requirements set out in Annexes 1 (‘Personnel Licensing’), 6 (‘Operation of Aircraft’) and 8 (‘Airworthiness of Aircraft) to the Chicago Convention.

Maja STRNAD MESKO