Steven Bentley M.D. Sofema Aviation Services
The Evolution of the European Regulatory System – From National Authorities through JAA to EASA and Part OPS
Who are ECAC?
The European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) was established by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the Council of Europe. Founded in 1955 with 19 Member States at the time, ECAC counts today 44 members, including all 27 EU, 30 of the 31 European Aviation Safety Agency and all 39 EUROCONTROL Member States.
The Origins of the JAA
The Joint Aviation Authorities, or JAA, was an associated body of the ECAC representing the civil aviation regulatory authorities of a number of European States who had agreed to co-operate in developing and implementing common safety regulatory standards and procedures. It was not a regulatory body, Instead regulation being achieved through a consensus which was then implemented through the member authorities.
The JAA started as the Joint Airworthiness Authorities in 1970. Originally, its objectives were only to produce common certification codes for large aeroplanes and for engines in order to meet the needs of European industry and international consortia (e.g., Airbus).
After 1987 its work was extended to operations, maintenance, licensing and certification/design standards for all classes of aircraft.
JAR-145 was issued on 30 July 1991 and became effective on 1 January 1992. and introduced new requirements for maintenance organisations involved in maintenance of aircraft operated for commercial air.
The initial issue of JAR OPS 1 was on 1st March 1998- goal – to minimize Type Certification problems on joint ventures, To facilitate the export and import of aviation products, to regulate commercial air transport operations.
The JAA issued the following documents :-
·JARs contain both requirements and advisory material (Advisory Circulars Joint (ACJ); Advisory Material Joint (AMJ); Acceptable Means of Compliance (AMC) and Interpretative and Explanatory Material (IEM)).
·Administrative and Guidance Material – This includes the Joint Implementation Procedures as well as Temporary Guidance Material and Interim Policies.
·NPAs (Notice of Proposed Amendments (to JARs)
EASA
The adoption of the European Regulation (EC) No 1592/2002 by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union (EU) enabled the creation of EASA. The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), formally started its work on 28 September 2003, taking over the responsibility for regulating airworthiness and maintenance issues within the EU Member States.
During the course of 2003 the airworthiness and maintenance (JARs) were transposed/converted into EASA regulatory measures. Some (e.g. JAR-21, JAR-145,) became Implementing Rules (IR) by means of Commission Regulation. , and others became Acceptable Means of Compliance (AMC) and Certification Specifications (CS) through Agency decisions.
JAA retained its function for operations and licensing for JAA member states outside EASA.
With the publication of the revision of EC Regulation 1592/2002 on 19 of March 2008 (EC Regulation 216/2008), EASA also became competent in the fields of Operations and Licensing.
This action introduced EASA EU OPS – EU-OPS 1 was introduced on 16 July 2008 ref Commission Regulation (EC) No 859/2008. It has now become effective in all EU Member States, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. It supersedes equivalent national legislation. In EU Member States, implementation of regulatory oversight remains with the designated NAA. administered on behalf of the European Commission by EASA , (in the case of EU-OPS as only an interim regulatory solution).
EU-OPS 1 at inception was based upon JAROPS 1 up to and including Rev 13 plus some differences in respect of cabin crew training, all weather operations, flight time limitations Some JAR-OPS Section 2 material detailing
requirements for a Quality System under EUOPS 1.035 and an Accident Prevention and Flight Safety Programme under EU-OPS 1.037 for CAT Operators has now been transposed into law.
The JAR-OPS system only applied to CAT whereas EASA rulemaking will, in principle, extend to all civil aircraft types and all types of civil aircraft use.
EU-OPS does not apply to: Aeroplanes used by customs or police services, Parachute dropping and fire-fighting flights.
Flights before, during and immediately after an aerial work activity provided that the flights before and after the aerial work are connected with that activity EASA rules are legally binding in their entirety rather than minimum standards or recommended practices. For this reason, they are being framed in what is described as a less prescriptive manner than JAR-OPS so that there is an appropriate level of flexibility. However, uniformity will be achieved by the use of AMC documentation.
Some Section 1 requirements in the JARS have been ‘re-classified’ as AMC material.
Part OPS
The new Air Operations requirements will consist of the Regulation and its implementing measures/Implementing and the corresponding Acceptable Means of Compliance (AMC) and Guidance Material (GM), which will be published on the Agency website as Decisions.
Operations Cover Regulation and Amendments
Annex I Definitions
Annex II Part-ARO – Authority Requirements for Air Operations
Annex III Part-ORO – Organisation Requirements for Air Operations
Annex IV Part-CAT – Commercial Air Transport Operations
Annex V Part-SPA – Operations Requiring Specific Approvals
Annex VI Part-NCC – Non-Commercial Operations with Complex Motor-Powered Aircraft
Annex VII Part-NCO – Non-Commercial Operations with Other-Than-Complex Motor-Powered Aircraft
Annex VIII Part-SPO– Specialized Operations
Aircrew Cover Regulation
Annex I Part-FCL- – Flight Crew Licensing
Annex II Conditions for the conversion of existing national licences and ratings for aeroplanes and helicopters
Annex III Conditions for the acceptance of licences issued by or on behalf of third countries
Annex IV Part-MED
Annex V Part Cabin Crew
Annex VI Part-ARA Authority requirements for aircrew
Annex VII Part-ORA Organisation requirements for aircrew
Once Part OPS is fully implemented all JAA regulations will be rescinded for example JAR-OPS 3, JAR-FCL & EU-OPS
EASA unlike the JAA was enfranchised with the mandate to establish a legally binding framework. Within the EU members states the role of the JAA was transferred to EASA. Outside of the EU the JAA continued to function until 2008. The JAA ceased to exist on 30 June 2009 and today all that remains is the JAA-TO which provides a training function. – JAA TO has no EASA Approval or special authority.
Sofema Aviation Services – www.sassofia.com provide regulatory training to include Part Ops please email office@sassofia.com
