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European Aviation Safety Agency

Answer

The Regulation establishing the European Aviation Safety Agency came into force in September 2002 and the Agency assumed responsibility for its tasks 12 months thereafter. At that time the Agency relied almost entirely on the Commission and the aviation authorities of member states for the resources and data it needed to execute those responsibilities. Initially, the national aviation authorities carried out all the Agency's certification tasks on its behalf.The Agency has been steadily recruiting the staff and building up the infrastructure it needs to perform its tasks in-house, however it is still reliant on national aviation authority support, delivered under contract. The Agency is recruiting staff mainly from the Commission, industry and national authorities; this pool of European technical experts must also serve the continuing needs of the national authorities and the aviation community more widely. It is a major challenge for everyone concerned to ensure that neither the Agency nor the national authorities run short of skilled manpower during this period of transition.The Agency's manpower plans and their effect on national authorities is being monitored by the Management Board. The Board has established a small group of high-level technical experts from national administrations, plus representatives of the Agency and the Commission, to examine rigorously whether the Agency's strategies are successfully ensuring the necessary qualified staff and to monitor the associated risks. As a result the Agency has established a risk register which it is required to present at each meeting of the management Board.The working group has stressed the importance of the Agency and the national aviation authorities working together to plan and manage technical resources, recommending that the Agency hold detailed discussions with each authority. Such discussions should be comprehensive and broader than the formal contractual arrangements under which the authorities currently carry out certification tasks for the Agency.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

42750; 441 c1379-80W

Session

2005-06

Subjects

Aviation Aircraft Certification Components Recruitment Monitoring Staff European Aviation Safety Agency