The future prospects study by the European Parliament’s transport and tourism committee (TRAN) does not paint a very rosy picture on how Brexit will affect European legislation for any means of transport, particularly for aviation.
Revision of EASA rules and regulations. Legislation in the air transport sector will definitely be deeply affected, going by what the MEPs explain in the study. Starting with the very structure of European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), responsible for all aspects of aviation security and whose terms and conditions are currently being revised (see EUROPE 11721).
The MEPs wonder about the role of the British in the EASA’s managing board and their contribution to the operational budget. Another question mark is the role of products from the UK.
Depending on the nature of the agreement to be negotiated with the EU27, EASA may in the future no longer be entitled to certify products "Made in the UK". The review of the EASA regulation aims to extend the agency’s powers in a number of domains, including safety, drones and airport safety equipment, and make it responsible for certification in all areas.
Uncertainty about British manufacturing would have serious consequences for the country’s economy and also a non-negligible impact on European aeronautics. To avoid such a situation, one of the options considered by the MEPs would be to grant the UK a similar status to that of Iceland, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Norway.
Gibraltar. Spain and the United Kingdom have been squabbling for decades over the sovereignty of Gibraltar (see EUROPE 11643) and the matter is of great concern to MEPs. Without prejudging the outcome of future negotiations, the MEPs say that a number of items of correlated legislation may be greatly affected by Brexit, including air passengers’ rights and the ‘Single European Sky 2+.' On the latter question, the study’s authors point out that the British were in favour of the proposed reforms. The MEPs find it hard to imagine that the British would leave the Single European Sky project, but they might lose EU funding for their part of the SESAR programme, a European air traffic management system, part of the Interconnection for Europe mechanism.
Continuity of air services. In any case, the MEPs feel it is inevitable that transitional measures will be required to ensure continuity of air services, failing which British airlines might not be allowed to automatically access the European market and vice versa. ‘Cabotage’ operations between European cities will probably become far more complex if not impossible for British airlines in the future. To avoid this type of inconvenience, the United Kingdom might opt to remain within the European Common Aviation Area (ECAA) and thus agree to recognise and therefore implement EU legislation in aviation sector.
The study is a densely-written dozen or so pages. The MEPs also address big issues in maritime, road, river and rail transport.
See: http://bit.ly/2lsv3Yp (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)