Commission Regulation (EC) No 593/2007 of 31 May 2007 on the fees and charges levied by the European Aviation Safety Agency (Text with EEA relevance)

• Coming into Force: 01 June 2007
• End of Effective Date: 31 March 2014
• Celex Number: 32007R0593
• ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2007/593/oj
• Published date: 01 June 2007
• Date: 31 May 2007
• Official Gazette Publication: Official Journal of the European Union, L 140, 01 June 2007

1.6.2007 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 140/3

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COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 593/2007

of 31 May 2007

on the fees and charges levied by the European Aviation Safety Agency

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 1592/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 July 2002 on common rules in the field of civil aviation and establishing a European Aviation Safety Agency (1), and in particular Article 53(1) thereof,

After consulting the Management Board of the European Aviation Safety Agency,

Whereas:

(1) Commission Regulation (EC) No 488/2005 (2) established the fees and charges to be levied by the European Aviation Safety Agency (hereinafter ‘the Agency’).

(2) The revenues of the Agency, consist of a contribution from the Community and from any European third country which has entered into the agreements referred to in Article 55 of Regulation (EC) No 1592/2002, of the fees paid by applicants for certificates and approvals issued, maintained or amended by the Agency, and of charges for publications, handling of appeals, training and any other service provided by the Agency.

(3) The Agency’s revenue and expenditure should be in balance.

(4) Fees and charges referred to in this Regulation should be demanded and levied by the Agency only and in euro. They should be set in a transparent, fair and uniform manner.

(5) The fees levied by the Agency should not jeopardize the competitiveness of the European industries concerned. Furthermore, they should be established on a basis which takes due account of the ability of small undertakings to pay.

(6) While civil aviation safety should be the prime concern, the Agency should nevertheless take full account of cost efficiency when conducting the tasks incumbent on it.

(7) The geographical location of the undertakings in the territories of the Member States should not be a discriminatory factor. Consequently, the travel costs related to the certification tasks carried out on behalf of such undertakings should be aggregated and divided between the applicants.

(8) The applicant should be informed, as far as possible, of the foreseeable amount to be paid for the service which will be provided and the way in which payment must be made before provision of the service starts. The criteria for determining the amount to be paid should be clear, uniform and public. Where it is impossible to determine this amount in advance, the applicant should be informed accordingly before provision of the service starts. In such a case, clear rules for assessing the amount to be paid during the provision of the service should be agreed before it is provided.

(9) The industry should enjoy good financial visibility and be able to anticipate the cost of the fees it will be required to pay. At the same time, it is necessary to ensure a balance between overall expenditure incurred by the Agency in carrying out certification tasks and overall income from the fees it levies. It should therefore be possible to review the levels of fees annually on the basis of the Agency’s financial results and forecasts.

(10) Interested parties should be consulted prior to any modification of fees. Moreover, the Agency should regularly provide interested parties with information on how and on what basis the fees are calculated. Such information should provide interested parties with an insight into the costs incurred by the Agency and its productivity.

(11) The tariffs set out in this Regulation should be based on Agency's forecasts as regards its workload and related costs.

(12) This Regulation should be reviewed within five years from its entry into force.

(13) Regulation (EC) No 488/2005 should be repealed.

(14) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee established by Article 54(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1592/2002,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

CHAPTER I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1

This Regulation shall apply to the fees and charges levied by the European Aviation Safety Agency, hereinafter ‘the Agency’, as compensation for the services it provides, including the supply of goods.

It determines in particular the matters for which fees and charges referred to in Article 48(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1592/2002 are due, the amount of those fees and charges and the way in which they are to be paid.

Article 2

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions shall apply:

(a) ‘fees’ means the amounts levied by the Agency and payable by applicants to obtain, maintain or amend the certificates referred to in Article 15 of Regulation (EC) No 1592/2002 which are issued, maintained or amended by the Agency;

(b) ‘charges’ means the amounts levied by the Agency and payable by applicants for services other than certification tasks, provided by the Agency;

(c) ‘certification tasks’ means all activities carried out by the Agency directly or indirectly for the purposes of issuing, maintaining or amending the certificates referred to in Article 15 of Regulation (EC) No 1592/2002;

(d) ‘applicant’ means any natural or legal person requesting to benefit from a service provided by the Agency, including the issue, maintenance or amendment of a certificate;

(e) ‘travel costs’ means the transport costs, the costs of accommodation and meals, the incidental expenses and the travel allowances paid to staff in the context of certification tasks;

(f) ‘real cost’ means the expenditure actually incurred by the Agency.

CHAPTER II

FEES

Article 3

1. The fees shall ensure a total revenue which is sufficient to cover all the costs arising out of the certification tasks, including costs arising from the related continuing oversight.

2. The Agency shall distinguish among its revenue and expenditure those which are attributable to certification tasks. For this purpose:

(a) the fees levied by the Agency shall be kept in a separate account and shall be the subject of a separate accounting procedure;

(b) the Agency shall draw up analytical accounts of its revenue and expenditure.

3. The fees shall be the subject of an overall provisional estimate by the beginning of each financial year. This estimate shall be based on the Agency’s previous financial results, its estimate of expenditure and revenue and its forward working plan.

If at the end of a financial year the overall revenue from fees, which constitute an assigned revenue in accordance with Article 53 of Regulation (EC) No 1592/2002, exceeds the overall cost of certification tasks, the excess shall be used to finance certification tasks in accordance with the Financial regulation of the Agency.

Article 4

The fee to be paid by the applicant for a given certification task shall consist of:

(a) a flat amount which shall vary according to the task concerned in order to reflect the cost incurred by the Agency in carrying out this task. The different amounts of the flat fee are set out in Parts I and III of the Annex; or

(b) a variable amount proportional to the workload involved, expressed as a number of hours multiplied by the hourly fee. The hourly fee shall reflect all costs arising from certification tasks. The certification tasks which are charged on an hourly basis as well as the applicable hourly fee are specified in Part II of the Annex.

Article 5

1. The amounts set out in the Annex shall be published in the Agency’s official publication.

2. These amounts shall be annually indexed to the inflation rate set out in Part V of the Annex.

3. The Annex shall be revised annually if necessary.

4. The Agency shall provide the Commission, the Management Board and the advisory body of interested parties established in accordance with Article 24 of Regulation (EC) No 1592/2002 annually with information on the components serving as a basis for determining the level of the fees. This information shall notably consist in a cost breakdown related to previous and next years. The Agency shall also provide the Commission, the Management Board and the advisory body of interested parties, twice per year, with the performance information set out in Part VI of the Annex and the performance indicators referred to in paragraph 5.

5. Within six months from the entry into force of this Regulation the Agency shall, after consulting the advisory body of interested parties, adopt a set of performance indicators taking notably into account the information listed in Part VI of the Annex.

6. The Agency shall consult the advisory body of interested parties before giving an opinion on any change in the fees. During this consultation, the Agency shall explain the reasons for any proposal for modifying the level of fees.

Article 6

Without prejudice to Article 4, where a certification task is conducted, fully or in part, outside the territories of the Member States, the fee invoiced to the applicant shall include the corresponding travel costs outside those territories, according to the formula:

d = f + v

where:

d	=	fee due
f	=	fee corresponding to the task carried out, as set out in the Annex
v	=	additional travel costs, at real cost

The additional travel costs invoiced to the applicant shall include the time spent by experts in the means of transport outside the territories of the Member States. The relevant number of hours shall be invoiced at the hourly fee.

Article 7

At the request of the applicant and with the agreement of the...