Brussels, 22/02/2007 (Agence Europe) - The EU high-level group on aviation regulation met on 22-23 February in Brussels to examine results from the European Commission's investigations into the civil aviation sector in Bulgaria. Investigations began in January. According to sources close to the Commission, it is, however, unlikely that experts will recommend the immediate lifting of the safeguard measures taken on 20 December 2006 against the new member state following the Commission's detection of important shortcomings in the training and recruitment of personnel, certification of navigability and maintenance of equipment (EUROPE 9332). Inspections carried out over recent weeks by experts from the Commission and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and which were concluded last week, focused on two aspects: personnel training and recruitment problems, and problems involving materials and technical aspects. Before any lifting of the safeguard measures can take place, sources close to the dossier underlined, “the civil aviation authority will need all the means necessary to be put at its disposal to accomplish the tasks laid down in the framework of the European acquis”.
The experts' committee is also expected to propose a new revised list of airlines to the Commission, which they believe do not meet safety standards. Updated every three months the “black list” does not currently contain any European companies. (aby)