69 days left on the Brexit clock. Only a few days untill the UK Parliament returns from its summer break. And now 30 days to find an alternative to a hard border on the island of Ireland. Or is that now 28 days? That said, Brexiters have had decades to come up with a workable answer to that question so I wonder if a few more days will change anything. Now, the EU is waiting for “realistic, operational & compatible” proposals.
If the UK leaves the EU on 31 October 2019, the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)[1] will take over the functions performed by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in relation to aviation approvals and certifications. The EASA’s mandate and roles as an Agency of the EU with regulatory and executive tasks in the field of civil aviation safety are not altered within the EU-28 and 4 associated Countries until the UK leaves.
Details about a non-negotiated EU exit and its impact on aviation and aerospace industries have been published. It’s worth having a look at “The CAA’s guide to Brexit No Deal & Aviation Safety[2]”. It’s well presented and a useful summary of the temporary measure in place. There’s one mistake on the final page on slide 13 where it references: “membership of the global aviation regulator ICAO”. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is a specialised agency of the United Nations (UN). The UK has been an ICAO Member State since its origins. However, it’s not right to call ICAO an aviation regulator. It does publish Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPS) and its Member States are expected to comply with those SARPS. However, although ICAO conducts audits it doesn’t have a right of enforcement and thus is not a regulator. It can’t levy fines or amend or remove approvals or certificates. It doesn’t issue licences or directives. Aviation is a global industry, but it is not globally regulated.
In 31 days, the ICAO Assembly[3] takes place in Montreal, Canada. This is the international organisation’s sovereign body where major policy decisions are made for the next 3-years. ICAO’s 193 Member States, and many international organisations are invited to the general Assembly. Many working papers and information papers are submitted for the participants to consider. European papers are coordinated before the Assembly[4]. In this case they are submitted and presented by Finland on behalf of the EU and its Member States, the other Member States of the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC), and by EUROCONTROL. I imagine this situation will remain unchanged if Brexit happens since the UK will remain a member of ECAC and EUROCONTROL. At least as far as I know.
[1] https://info.caa.co.uk/brexit/
[2] http://publicapps.caa.co.uk/docs/33/CAP1714BrexitAviationSafetyE3.pdf
[3] https://www.icao.int/Meetings/a40/pages/default.aspx
[4] https://www.icao.int/Meetings/A40/Pages/wp.aspx
John Vincent 