EASA budget black hole
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EASA budget black hole
EASA facing $16m budget ‘black hole’
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A €13.5 million ($16 million) deficit in the European Aviation Safety Agency’s finances has prompted a crisis meeting of the organisation’s multinational management board on 13 December to sort out EASA’s 2006 budget.
Options being considered are to raise certification charges by over 40%, or stop recruiting and reduce EASA’s workload, or for the European Commission to increase direct funding dramatically, says a member of the EASA Advisory Body.
EASA itself will say only that the board will be reviewing its 2006 budget because of a proposal that the agency should assume new areas of responsibility, and it has taken on costs associated with European Union enlargement.
Martin Robinson, a general aviation industry representative on the EASA Advisory Body, says the agency’s finances have been under committee discussion. Robinson, who is also on the executive com_mittee of the International Association of Aircraft Owners and Pilots Associations (IAOPA), calls EASA’s finances a “black hole” because the complexities of the fees and charges system make it difficult to determine exactly how and where the losses have arisen.
A major problem, he says, is that EASA has not carried out the volume of airworthiness and certification business that it expected, with a knock-on effect on income. Certification charges need to rise from €99 to €140/h to generate an extra €15.5 million in 2006, says Robinson. Alternatively, the agency – still understaffed – should cut recruitment and certification work. Or, finally, the EC should increase its tranche of the agency’s regulatory activity costs.
Michael Smethers, EASA management board member and head of the UK Department for Transport international aviation and safety division, says the board will be “working with EASA to review the fees and charges regulations”.
Sir Roy McNulty, UK Civil Aviation Authority chairman and critic of EASA’s management system, says: “I am aware that EASA is experiencing significant difficulties with its fees and charges and its budgets. I am sure that the EASA management board, with the EC, will seek to find a way of resolving these problems. ”
Story
A €13.5 million ($16 million) deficit in the European Aviation Safety Agency’s finances has prompted a crisis meeting of the organisation’s multinational management board on 13 December to sort out EASA’s 2006 budget.
Options being considered are to raise certification charges by over 40%, or stop recruiting and reduce EASA’s workload, or for the European Commission to increase direct funding dramatically, says a member of the EASA Advisory Body.
EASA itself will say only that the board will be reviewing its 2006 budget because of a proposal that the agency should assume new areas of responsibility, and it has taken on costs associated with European Union enlargement.
Martin Robinson, a general aviation industry representative on the EASA Advisory Body, says the agency’s finances have been under committee discussion. Robinson, who is also on the executive com_mittee of the International Association of Aircraft Owners and Pilots Associations (IAOPA), calls EASA’s finances a “black hole” because the complexities of the fees and charges system make it difficult to determine exactly how and where the losses have arisen.
A major problem, he says, is that EASA has not carried out the volume of airworthiness and certification business that it expected, with a knock-on effect on income. Certification charges need to rise from €99 to €140/h to generate an extra €15.5 million in 2006, says Robinson. Alternatively, the agency – still understaffed – should cut recruitment and certification work. Or, finally, the EC should increase its tranche of the agency’s regulatory activity costs.
Michael Smethers, EASA management board member and head of the UK Department for Transport international aviation and safety division, says the board will be “working with EASA to review the fees and charges regulations”.
Sir Roy McNulty, UK Civil Aviation Authority chairman and critic of EASA’s management system, says: “I am aware that EASA is experiencing significant difficulties with its fees and charges and its budgets. I am sure that the EASA management board, with the EC, will seek to find a way of resolving these problems. ”
