THE DOCKET

BREXIT AND AVIATION

THE CONSEQUENCES
OF A NO DEAL SITUATION
A
s of October 2, 2018, EASA has If no deal is reached between the parties, as of
allowed UK approval holders to
start applying for Third Country midnight on March 29, 2019, the UK would leave the
approvals. This move is in line with
an increased acknowledgement from EU, with all current approvals of UK entities ceasing
regulators, including EASA and the
UK CAA, that agencies and regula- to be effective. This would have significant
tors must identify and put in place
possible preparedness measures in consequences on aviation.
anticipation of the UK’s withdrawal
from the European Union. Attorney Giulia Mauri explains what you need
If ‘no deal’ is reached, the UK would
leave the EU as of midnight on March to do to prepare.

29, 2019. If no transitional period is

agreed and nothing is done to pre-
pare, current approvals of UK entities
will cease being effective, at least in
the EU. Under increasing demand
COMPLIANCE from the industry, EASA and the UK
The best CAA have started putting in place
outcome to measures that could help smoothing
Brexit the transition should the UK and the
negotiations in EU fail to reach an agreement.
aviation safety In order to avoid this situation, as of
would be for the October 2, 2018, UK approval holders
UK to continue may apply with EASA to obtain EASA
to participate in approvals under the procedure cur-
EASA. rently reserved to Third Country enti-

76 - BART: DECEMBER - JANUARY - 2018 - 2019

ties. UK approval holders may there-
fore apply, inter alia, to obtain
approvals for maintenance organiza-
tions, maintenance training organiza-
tions, continuing airworthiness main-
tenance organizations, approved train-
ing organizations, etc.
At the time of writing, we still do not
know if an agreement will be conclud-
ed between the EU and the UK and, if
one is reached, what kind of agree-
ment it will be. The negotiations
between the UK and the European
Union are still ongoing. Although both
sides agree on the fact that they want
to ensure continued transport connec-
tivity, their ideas on how to implement
their visions on those aviation matters
are sometimes contradictory.
Deal – Transition Period
In March 2018, the UK Prime
Minister declared that the UK could
remain part of the EU agencies and
that they would have to respect the
remit of the ECJ in that regard. The
aviation industry has taken the posi-
tion that air connectivity can only be
ensured and improved if the future
agreement mirrors what is in place
today and supports growth and inno-
vation in the future.
In this sense, the government pub-
lished a “Framework for the UK-EU
partnership” in June 2018, in which it
is clearly mentioned that the UK
wants to build a comprehensive
agreement with the European Union.
The structure of the future agreement
has already been agreed to and is
based on both an economic and secu-
rity partnership and protecting the
shared interests. The implementation
of this agreement would be made
through a two-year transition period
post Brexit.
UK and European institutions insist
on the fact that the negotiation of this
liberal agreement for the aviation sec-
tor is not only a governmental matter
– all stakeholders’ views are impor-
tant, and all must be prepared for any
scenario.
No Deal
The impact of such a no deal sce-
nario would be significant. As of the
withdrawal date, the UK will automat-
ically cease being covered by the EU
transport agreement, as well as the
jurisdiction of the ECJ. Under this
non-negotiated withdrawal scenario,
some regulatory processes will have
to be brought back within the UK sys-
tem.
The UK CAA states that, although
they prefer that a deal be made, it is
the UK government’s liability to be
prepared for any scenario that could
happen in March 2019.
Consequently, last September, the
UK CAA issued some technical guid-
ance to prepare for an exit from the
EU without a deal. It also created a
website explaining what actions will
be taken under a no deal scenario.
To stay updated on the latest devel-
opments, you can subscribe to the
alerting system at:
http://SkyWise.caa.co.uk
BART: DECEMBER - JANUARY - 2018 - 2019 - 77
Likewise, EASA also issued guid-
ance material to help the industry pre-
pare if a ‘no-deal’ scenario occurs.
Main Impacts of a
No-deal Scenario on Safety
The main consequences of a no-deal
scenario on aviation safety are exam-
ined by the guidance notices issued
by the UK CAA and EASA. On
September 24, 2018, the UK CAA
issued two guidance notices, one
titled ‘Flights to and from the UK if
there is no Brexit deal’ and another
titled ‘Aviation safety if there is no
Brexit deal’. On October 2, 2018,
EASA issued an update on Brexit.
We summarize below some of the
consequences of a ‘no deal’ as
reviewed by EASA and the UK CAA
in their guidance material.
Participation of the UK to EASA
EASA covers 32 European countries
(the 28 EU Member States and four
associated countries: Iceland,
Liechtenstein, Norway and
Switzerland). In case of a no-deal
Brexit scenario, the withdrawal of the
UK will put an end to its participation
in EASA. The EU would no longer
recognize UK-based licenses, certifi-
cates or approvals. The CAA will take
over EASA’s competency and will be
in charge of delivering approvals for
UK-based entities.
However, the UK has recently
declared that the UK is not planning
to create a new independent aviation
safety system, but to adopt the exist-
ing EASA regulatory system. If an
agreement is reached in this respect,
the UK could participate in the work
of EASA as a third country with no
voting rights.
Flights to and from the EU
According to the guidance materials
published on September 24, 2018 by
the UK CAA, if there is a ‘no deal’ sce-
nario, airlines wishing to operate
flights between the UK and the EU
will have to seek individual permis-
sions from the respective state. In this DEADLOCK
scenario, the UK CAA will most likely Leading aviation
grant permission to EU airlines to industry players
continue operating in the UK. It is not complain about
known what the EU would do. the lack of
In order to operate to the UK, EU progress in the
airlines would need to obtain two sep- Brexit
arate permits: a foreign carrier permit negotiations in
and a UK safety authorization, a UK their sector.
 THE DOCKET
Part-TCO. In its guidance material,
the UK CAA indicates that they will
evaluate each application on a case-
by-case basis.
As to UK licensed airlines, in a ‘no
deal’ scenario, they will need permis-
sion from the national authority of the
state to which they operate, coupled
with an EASA safety authorization or
EASA Part-TCO.
Licenses and Certificates Related
to UK-registered Aircraft
Personnel or organizations working
on UK registered aircraft currently
must hold licenses and permits that
are recognized at the European level.
The UK CAA has stated that the UK
will continue to recognize and accepts
licenses and certificates issued before
exit day in favor of UK registered air-
craft. Those licenses and certificates
will therefore be recognized as valid
in the UK.
On the other hand, the EU has indi-
cated that certificates and licenses
issued before the exit day would no
longer be automatically accepted by
EASA. This is why EASA has already
informed UK permit and certificate
holders to apply with EASA in order
to obtain a third country approval that
would remain valid after the exit day.
Maintenance and
SECTOR Continuing Airworthiness
The UK Under the current European
aerospace regime, aircraft registered in an EU
industry Member State may be maintained by
employs engineers and maintenance organiza-
123,000 tions recognized and licensed by
workers (top). EASA, regardless of whether they are
Attorney Giulia located in the UK or in any other
Mauri (below). member state.
78 - BART: DECEMBER - JANUARY - 2018 - 2019
After the exit day, the UK CAA has
stated that maintenance-related
licenses issued by the UK prior to
the exit from the EU will remain
valid under UK law. This means that
UK maintenance organizations and
UK engineers will be able to contin-
ue to work on UK registered air-
craft.
The current position of the UK is
that EASA licenses issued by foreign
European states will still be consid-
ered valid for an interim period of two
years. This means that UK registered
aircraft could continue, for a period of
two years after exit day, to be main-
tained by non-UK maintenance orga-
nizations and engineers.
However, the EU has adopted
another approach. Certificates and
licenses issued by the UK CAA
before the exit day will no longer be
accepted in the EASA system. This
means that, after the exit day, UK
EASA approved maintenance organi-
zations and personnel will no longer
be able to perform maintenance on
EU registered aircraft. For these
organizations and personnel, on
October 4, 2018, EASA opened a spe-
cial procedure that allows them to file
an application as a third country
approval holder.
Conclusion
With the exit date quickly approach-
ing, the UK CAA and EASA are mak-
ing an effort to supply information to
affected businesses and to offer them
some sort of Plan B to begin prepar-
ing for a possible no-deal scenario. In
this respect, the EASA initiative to
allow UK approval holders to start
applying for third country approval
before the exit day is particularly
remarkable. This measure should
help UK approval holders to start
putting in place contingency mea-
sures to limit the impact of Brexit on
their businesses.
✈
Attorney Giulia Mauri is a partner at
Pierstone Brussels. She has more than
20 years’ experience in advising
national and international clients on
all aspects of aviation and transport-
related transactions, including asset-
finance and leasing, regulatory issues,
carrier’s liability and litigation mat-
ters. She also acts as a mediator and is
the co-founder of Mediation4Aviation,
a mediation platform dedicated to the
aviation industry. Giulia co-chairs the
European and Legal Affairs Committee
of the European Business Aviation
Association and is an active member of
the Industry Affairs Group of the
Euorpean Regions Airline Association.
www.pierstone.com/team/giulia-
mauri; giulia.mauri@pierstone.com;
+32 02 899 23 62.