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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 (), amended by Regulation (EC) No 1108/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009 (), and in particular Article 8a(5) thereof, Whereas:

(1)Regulation (EC) No 216/2008 aims at establishing and maintaining a high uniform level of civil aviation safety in Europe.

(2)The implementation of Regulation (EC) No 216/2008 requires the establishment of detailed Implementing Rules, in particular concerning the safety regulation of aerodromes, in order to maintain a high uniform level of civil aviation safety in the Union while pursuing the objective of an overall improvement in aerodrome safety.

(3)It requires the Commission to adopt the necessary Implementing Rules for establishing the conditions for the design and safe operation of aerodromes referred to in Article 8a(5) before 31 December 2013.

(4)In order to ensure a smooth transition and a high level of civil aviation safety in the Union, the Implementing Rules should reflect the state of the art and the best practices in the field of aerodromes; take into account the applicable International Civil Aviation Organization (hereinafter referred to as ‘ICAO’) Standards and Recommended Practices, thereby respecting ICAO's respective classification throughout the system of rules; and worldwide aerodrome operation experience, and scientific and technical progress in the field of aerodromes; be proportionate to the size, traffic, category and complexity of the aerodrome and nature and volume of operations thereon; provide for the necessary flexibility for customised compliance; and cater for the cases of aerodrome infrastructure which has been developed, prior to the entry into force of this Regulation, in accordance with the different requirements contained in the national legislations of the Member States.

(5)It is necessary to provide sufficient time for the aerodrome industry and Member States administrations to adapt to the new regulatory framework and to verify the continued validity of certificates issued before the entry into force of this Regulation.

(6)With a view to ensuring uniformity in the application of common requirements, it is essential that common standards be applied by the Competent Authorities and, where applicable, the Agency when assessing compliance with these requirements; the Agency should develop Acceptable Means of Compliance and Guidance Material to facilitate the necessary regulatory uniformity. The common requirements should cater for identical processes within the competent authorities across the different aviation domains. They should not prevent, however, the application of slightly different processes if and where necessary or beneficial, for example in the case of separate overseeing entities for aerodromes and air operations. The safety objective of these requirements should remain unaffected by the different ways of technical compliance.

(7)With regard to obstacle management in the aerodrome surroundings as well as to other activities taking place outside the aerodrome’s boundary each Member State may designate different authorities and other entities in charge of monitoring, assessment and mitigation risks. The aim of this Regulation is not to change current allocation of tasks within the Member State. However a seamless organisation of the competences regarding the safeguarding of aerodrome surroundings and the monitoring and mitigating of risk caused by human activities should be ensured in each Member State. It should therefore be ensured that authorities which are entrusted with responsibilities of safeguarding the surrounding of aerodromes have the adequate competencies to fulfil their obligations.

(8)Specific services referred to in subpart B of Annex IV (Part ADR.OPS) should be provided at an aerodrome. In some cases these services are not directly provided by the aerodrome operator, but by another organisation or State entity, or combination of both. In such cases the aerodrome operator, being responsible for the operation of the aerodrome, should have arrangements and interfaces with these organisations or entities in place to ensure the provision of services according to the requirements stated in Annex IV. When such arrangements and interfaces are in place the aerodrome operator should be considered as having discharged their responsibility and should not be understood to be directly responsible or liable for any non-compliances by another entity involved in the arrangement, provided that it has complied with all applicable requirements and obligations laid down in this Regulation relevant to its responsibility under the arrangement.

(9)Regulation (EC) No 216/2008 only concerns aerodrome certificates to be issued by Competent Authorities in so far as safety aspects are concerned. Therefore, non-safety related aspects of existing national aerodrome certificates remain unaffected.

(10)The measures provided for in this Regulation are based on the Opinion issued by the European Aviation Safety Agency in accordance with Articles 17(2)(b) and 19(1) of Regulation (EC) No 216/2008.

(11)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: