EC Pushed A Decision On Third-County Licenses Back Two Months

The issue of third-country licences and registrations is still in play in Europe, which is affected by EASA proposals on flight crew licensing. In its newsletter, IAOPA says that following a concerted campaign by the organization, the European Commission's committee which oversees EASA's proposals - called the Comitology Committee - pushed a decision on third-country licenses back by two months, which should allow EASA to produce new proposals. EASA's new draft will be circulated to members of the Comitology Committee in the next two weeks, and a full deliberation is scheduled for December 8th.

EASA has made no secret of the fact that it wants to get third country aircraft - and specifically the N-register - out of Europe. But in the past it has said it would do this by "making sure there were no advantages to being on the N-register." It has, however, found it difficult or impossible to address the relevant issues, and seems to have opted for a 'train wreck' approach which IAOPA says would be disastrous for general aviation in Europe.

IAOPA believes the flight crew licensing proposal is only the first stage in EASA's move against the N-register, with more to come in proposals on Operations. The organization says these moves are politically motivated and have nothing to do with safety, and EASA regulation should not be used in political disputes.

FMI: www.iaopa.eu