Are people here familiar with how the regulations are created by EASA? I am an American but led an engineering group in France. The EU standards for the product line for which I was responsible were created by members of the engineering staffs of all European manufacturers of the product as our staffs lived and breathed the products. It was not possible for the EU to build expertise equal to what had been built up over 100+ years. So in my particular case the standards leaned toward the German's input as they had more manufacturers than any others. There was not input from manufacturers outside the EU but in order to sell their product in the EU, they needed to meet EU standards. I mention the German influence as it did tend to sway regulations to their benefit. As an American citizen I could not attend the relation creation sessions but I had excellent staff who did their job well. The end result, however, was regulations created by the engineers doing the work. Then we self certified that we met the regulations which did involve many design changes to meet implementation deadlines as a group we realized that issues had been overlooked. In our industry the documentation showing that we met each requirement stayed with us. I do not recall any EU audit during my time served in the position - most likely to happen if there was an accident.
So having knowledge of how the EU works on mobile ground based equipment, how is EASA different. Are they blessed with an abundance of engineers so prolific that they can spot something the people who work on the designs everyday have overlooked? And lets remember that companies such as VW, Mercedes, and BMW are now paying the price for having be self regulating on emissions standards that had been established.
As for Boeing culture, I have a 1st cousin once removed who got an engineering job with Boeing in the 1940s and worked through projects like the B-29 on up until being assigned to the 2707. Great to work as a structural analysis engineer on such a high tech project. Along came 1971 and the 2707 was axed along with my relative after over 25 years. Then it was a move from their beloved Pacific NW to Southern California where the jobs were. He retired as a partner in his small group working on a contract basis for the B2. At a family reunion I asked him why he didn't encourage Eddie, my second cousin, to be an engineer. He said no loyalty by management to the hard work and accomplishments. If one's goal in life is to be a great engineer and not aspire to move into management, your career is only as good as the black ink. The discussion here about Boeing going downhill after the merger with MD - George would disagree. B-29, B-47, B-52, 707, etc., all out the window following an unfortunate management path - made in the 60's.