Introductory text

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

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

Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 216/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 February 2008 on common rules in the field of civil aviation and establishing a European Aviation Safety Agency, and repealing Council Directive 91/670/EEC, Regulation (EC) No 1592/2002 and Directive 2004/36/EC^f1, and in particular Article 8(5) thereof,

Whereas:

Commission Regulation (EU) No 965/2012^f2 establishes the conditions for the safety of several types of air operations with different categories of aircraft, including balloon operations.

Commission Regulation (EU) 2018/395^f3 establishes specific rules for the operation of balloons. From the date of application of that Regulation, such operations should no longer be subject to the general rules for air operations laid down in Regulation (EU) No 965/2012. However, the rules in respect of oversight of air operations by the competent authorities of the Member States, set out in Article 3 of Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 and Annex II thereof, should continue to apply with respect to air operations with balloons, as those requirements are not specific to any particular air operation activity but apply horizontally in respect of all such activities.

Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 should therefore be amended accordingly, so as to take account of the new rules applicable to balloon operations and to clarify the affected provisions of that Regulation where appropriate.

Considering the close link between them, the date of application of the amendments to Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 set out in this Regulation should be aligned with the date of application of Regulation (EU) 2018/395.

The Agency prepared draft implementing rules and submitted them as an opinion^f4 to the Commission in accordance with point (b) of Article 17(2) and Article 19(1) of Regulation (EC) No 216/2008.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee established by Article 65 of Regulation (EC) No 216/2008,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: