[Avionics Today 09-02-2014] The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) announced a new organizational structure, effective Sept. 1. Under the new structure, all regulatory functions have been integrated across four regulatory categories each headed by a director who reports to EASA Executive Director Patrick Ky’s office. The four categories are strategy and safety management, certification, flight standards, and resources and support.
EASA Director Patrick Ky. Photo: EASA
“This new organization will reinforce the role of EASA at the center of the European aviation regulatory system, in partnership with the member states and in support of the growth and development of the aviation industry,” said Ky.
Additionally, the restructure is aimed at helping the agency enhance its role in providing regulation of new airframes, avionics and other aviation products. EASA is currently overseeing an ongoing revision of its founding regulation, which will be finalized by the first quarter of 2015.
“Aviation is constantly evolving with innovative business models and new technologies in order to achieve greater efficiencies. In turn, authorities are faced with the challenge to be more efficient and flexible to enable further growth for aviation,” EASA said in a statement.
EASA’s new structure comes following the agency’s recent announcement seeking to establish a “database of independent aviation experts,” to support a number of different tasks including the development of exam questions for the European Central Question Database.
The agency also recently outlined its new harmonized approach to establishing a Performance Based Environment (PBE) in place of the prescriptive rules approach it previously had in place to regulate the certification of new airframes and aircraft components. The PBE approach will focus on setting goals for desired safety objectives and measuring performance against them, rather than “telling individuals and businesses what they can and cannot do,” as the EASA states in its harmonization report.