SECTION III

As soon as possible after the entry into force of this Regulation, the Management Board shall establish transparent procedures for issuing opinions, certification specifications and guidance material referred to in Article 18(a) and (c). Those procedures shall: draw on expertise available in the aviation regulatory authorities of Member States; whenever necessary, involve appropriate experts from relevant interested parties; ensure that the Agency publishes documents and consults widely with interested parties, according to a timetable and a procedure which includes an obligation on the Agency to make a written response to the consultation process. When the Agency, pursuant to Article 19, develops opinions, certification specifications and guidance material to be applied by Member States, it shall establish a procedure for consulting the Member States. To this effect, it may create a working group in which each Member State is entitled to designate an expert. Measures referred to in Article 18(a) and (c) and the procedures established pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article shall be published in an official publication of the Agency. Special procedures shall be established to address immediate action to be taken by the Agency to react to a safety problem and to inform the relevant interested parties of the action they are to take. The Management Board shall establish transparent procedures for taking individual decisions as provided for in Article 18(d). Those procedures shall: ensure the hearing of the natural or legal person to be addressed in the decision and of any other party with a direct and individual concern; provide for notification of the decision to natural or legal persons and for its publication; provide for the natural or legal person to whom the decision is addressed, and any other parties to proceedings, to be informed of the legal remedies available to that person under this Regulation; ensure that the decision contains reasons. The Management Board shall establish procedures specifying the conditions under which decisions are notified while taking due account of the appeal procedure. Special procedures shall be established to address immediate action to be taken by the Agency to react to a safety problem and to inform the relevant interested parties of the action they are to take. Without prejudice to the enforcement powers conferred by the Treaty on the Commission, the Agency shall assist the Commission in monitoring the application of this Regulation and its implementing rules by conducting standardisation inspections of Member States competent authorities as specified in Article 24(1). The officials authorised under this Regulation, and those seconded by the national authorities participating in such inspections, are thus empowered, in compliance with the legal provisions of the Member State concerned: to examine the relevant records, data, procedures and any other material relevant to the achievement of aviation safety levels in accordance with this Regulation; to take copies of or extracts from such records, data, procedures and other material; to ask for an oral explanation on the spot; to enter any relevant premises, land or means of transport. The officials of the Agency authorised for the purpose of the inspections referred to in paragraph 1 shall exercise their powers upon production of an authorisation in writing specifying the subject matter, the purpose of the inspection and the date on which it is to begin. In good time before the inspection, the Agency shall inform the Member State concerned of the inspection and of the identity of the authorised officials. The Member State concerned shall submit to the inspections and shall ensure that bodies or persons concerned also submit to them. When an inspection carried out pursuant to this Article entails an inspection of an undertaking or an association of undertakings, the provisions of Article 55 shall apply. Where an undertaking opposes the inspection, the Member State concerned shall afford the necessary assistance to officials authorised by the Agency to enable them to carry out the inspection. Reports drawn up in application of this Article shall be made available in the official language or languages of the Member State where the inspection took place. The Agency may itself conduct or assign to national aviation authorities or qualified entities all necessary investigations of undertakings in application of Articles 7, 20, 21, 22, 23 and 24(2). These investigations shall be carried out in compliance with the legal provisions of the Member States in which they are to be undertaken. To that end, the persons authorised under this Regulation are empowered: to examine the relevant records, data, procedures and any other material relevant to the execution of the tasks of the Agency; to take copies of or extracts from such records, data, procedures and other material; to ask for an oral explanation on site; to enter relevant premises, lands or means of transport of undertakings; to conduct inspections of aircraft in cooperation with Member States. The persons authorised for the purpose of the investigations referred to in paragraph 1 shall exercise their powers upon production of an authorisation in writing specifying the subject matter and purpose of the investigation. In good time before the investigation, the Agency shall inform the Member State in whose territory the investigation is to be carried out of the investigation and of the identity of the authorised persons. Officials of the Member State concerned shall, at the request of the Agency, assist those authorised persons to carry out their duties. The annual programme of work shall aim to promote the continuous improvement of European aviation safety and comply with the objectives, mandates and tasks of the Agency, as set out in this Regulation. It shall clearly indicate which of the mandates and tasks of the Agency have been added, changed or deleted in comparison with the previous year. The presentation of the annual programme of work shall be based on the methodology used by the Commission as part of Activity-Based Management. The annual general report shall describe the way in which the Agency has implemented its annual programme of work. It shall clearly indicate which of the mandates and tasks of the Agency have been added, changed or deleted in comparison with the previous year. The report shall outline the activities carried out by the Agency and evaluate the results thereof with respect to the objectives and timetable set, the risks associated with those activities, the use of resources and the general operations of the Agency. Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 shall apply to documents held by the Agency. The Agency may communicate on its own initiative in the fields within its mission. It shall ensure in particular that, in addition to the publication specified in Article 52(3), the public and any interested party are rapidly given objective, reliable and easily understandable information with regard to its work. Any natural or legal person shall be entitled to address himself/herself in writing to the Agency in any of the languages referred to in Article 314 of the Treaty. That person shall have the right to receive an answer in the same language. The information gathered by the Agency in accordance with this Regulation shall be subject to Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data OJ L 8, 12.1.2001, p. 1. .

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-10-29 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.