THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 300/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2008 on common rules in the field of civil aviation security and repealing Regulation (EC) No 2320/2002(1), and in particular Article 15 thereof,
Whereas:
(1) The Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA)(2), in particular its Annex XIII, provides that EEA Member States of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) are to implement the common basic standards on aviation security and that the EFTA Surveillance Authority is to carry out inspections in those Member States. In order to further increase harmonisation in the implementation of the common basic standards, the Commission should have the possibility of including qualified experts from the EFTA Surveillance Authority and from the Member States of EFTA in its aviation security inspection teams.
(2) The European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) Secretariat coordinates aviation security audits in ECAC Member States with a view to ensuring compliance with aviation security standards. In order to strengthen the exchange of best practice between that Secretariat and the Commission in the domain of aviation security, the Commission should have the possibility of including qualified experts from the ECAC Secretariat in its aviation security inspection teams.
(3) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee referred to in Article 19(2) of Regulation (EC) No 300/2008,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: