Brussels, 10/12/2004 (Agence Europe) - After years of blockage, the Council has reached political agreement on the modified proposed regulation on the harmonisation of technical rules and administrative procedures in the field of civil aviation. This is a partial agreement which "only" refers to flight and rest times for members of the crew and on the provisions applicable to cabin crew, two of the annexes of the proposal. The Commission is now to revise the other annexes, in light of new international directives, and subsequently present a new proposal on these annexes, on which the Council and Parliament will take position.
The objective of the proposal is to establish operational standards applicable to air carriers (EU-OPS rules) including on flight and rest times for members of flight crews (FTL rules). The agreement reached by the Council provides: a maximum daily flight service time of 13 hours through the day, and 11 hours and 45 minutes at night. In certain cases, and on two occasions, this duration can be extended by an hour, but only during the daytime. The rest period must be at least as long as the previous flight service period, or at least 12 hours if the crew member is at their home base. If this is abroad, the rest period must be at least 10 hours. These period can be reduced as long as the same level of safety can be guaranteed. The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) will carry out a scientific and medical investigation into the consequences of the provisions of the directive, three years after it enters into force. If needs be, it can help the Commission to prepare new proposals to modify these proposals.
The text adopted by the Council also contains provisions on cabin crew. These members of staff must be at least eighteen years of age, have passed a medical examination and received specific training. They will receive a certificate guaranteeing that they answer the requirements of the provisions of the directive. These will also be evaluated by EASE, three years after the text enters into force.