Commission Regulation (EU) No 73/2010Show full title

Commission Regulation (EU) No 73/2010

of 26 January 2010

laying down requirements on the quality of aeronautical data and aeronautical information for the single European sky

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 552/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 March 2004 on the interoperability of the European Air Traffic Management network (the interoperability Regulation)(1) and in particular Article 3(5) thereof,

Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 549/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 March 2004 laying down the framework for the creation of the single European sky (the framework Regulation)(2), and in particular Article 8(1) thereof,

Whereas:

(1) Aeronautical data and aeronautical information of appropriate quality are required to ensure safety and support new concepts of operation within the European air traffic management network (hereinafter EATMN).

(2) The International Civil Aviation Organisation (hereinafter ICAO) has defined aeronautical data and aeronautical information quality requirements in terms of accuracy, resolution and integrity that should be met and maintained within the EATMN when processing aeronautical data and aeronautical information.

(3) Those ICAO requirements are considered to provide a sufficient baseline for current data quality requirements but there are known deficiencies that should be addressed, notably to support future applications.

(4) Annex 15 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation (hereinafter the Chicago Convention) should provide the main baseline for the data quality requirements. References to provisions of Annex 15 to the Chicago Convention should not automatically imply a reference to Annex 4 to the Chicago Convention or other Annexes to the Chicago Convention.

(5) Examination of the current situation has demonstrated that the quality requirements relating to aeronautical data and aeronautical information are not always met within the EATMN, in particular the accuracy and integrity requirements.

(6) A significant amount of paper-based, manual activity still takes place within the aeronautical data chain, which leads to significant opportunities for the introduction of errors and the degradation of data quality. Measures should therefore be adopted to improve the situation.

(7) Eurocontrol has been mandated in accordance with Article 8(1) of Regulation (EC) No 549/2004 to develop requirements supplementing and strengthening Annex 15 to the Chicago Convention in order to achieve aeronautical information of sufficient quality. This Regulation is based on the resulting mandate report of 16 October 2007.

(8) In accordance with the requirements of Regulation (EC) No 552/2004, aeronautical information should be provided progressively in an electronic form, based on a commonly agreed and standardised data set. Those requirements should eventually be applicable to all aeronautical data and aeronautical information within the scope of this Regulation.

(9) This Regulation should not cover military operations and training as referred to in Article 1(2) of Regulation (EC) No 549/2004.

(10) Military organisations providing aeronautical information for use in general air traffic operations are an essential part of the aeronautical data process and Member States should ensure that the quality of such data is sufficient to meet its intended use.

(11) The timely provision and publication of new or amended aeronautical data and aeronautical information in accordance with the amendments and update cycle requirements of ICAO and Member States are considered essential to support the achievement of data quality.

(12) Member States should exercise effective management and control over all aeronautical data and aeronautical information origination activities to ensure that data is provided with sufficient quality to meet its intended use.

(13) The constituents and procedures that are used by originators of data need to be interoperable with the systems, constituents and procedures used by aeronautical information service providers in order to enable safe, seamless and efficient operation of the EATMN.

(14) With a view to maintaining or enhancing existing safety levels of operations, Member States should be required to ensure that the parties concerned carry out a safety assessment including hazard identification, risk assessment and mitigation processes. Harmonised implementation of these processes to the systems covered by this Regulation requires the identification of specific safety requirements for all interoperability and performance requirements.

(15) In accordance with Article 3(3)(d) of Regulation (EC) No 552/2004, implementing rules for interoperability should describe the specific conformity assessment procedures to be used to assess the conformity or suitability for use of constituents as well as the verification of systems.

(16) This Regulation has an impact on a wide range of parties. It should therefore take into account the individual capabilities and levels of involvement within the data chain of the parties, to ensure that provisions are applied progressively to achieve required data quality.

(17) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Single Sky Committee,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

(1)

OJ L 96, 31.3.2004, p. 26.

(2)

OJ L 96, 31.3.2004, p. 1.