Article 66 Oversight support mechanism

1.Where all of the following conditions have been met:

(a)the results of inspections and other monitoring activities conducted by the Agency in accordance with Article 85 indicate a serious and persisting inability of a Member State to effectively perform certain or all of its certification, oversight and enforcement tasks under this Regulation;

(b)the Commission has requested the Member State concerned to remedy the deficiencies identified in accordance with point (a);

(c)the Member State has not remedied the deficiencies in a satisfactory manner and the resulting situation endangers civil aviation safety, the Member State concerned and the Agency shall, at the request of the Commission, establish jointly a temporary technical assistance programme with the aim of remedying the identified deficiencies and assisting the Member State concerned to restore its ability to perform the certification, oversight and enforcement tasks covered by this Regulation by the end of the support phase. That technical assistance programme shall include, in particular, the timeline of the programme, the planning and exercise of certification, oversight and enforcement tasks in cases where deficiencies have been identified, the training and qualifications of relevant inspectors and personnel, and the organisation of the work of the national competent authority of the Member State concerned, where it has direct influence on the identified deficiencies.

2.The Member State concerned shall be responsible for the implementation of the technical assistance programme to remedy the identified deficiencies. For that purpose, the Member State concerned shall cooperate with the Agency when implementing that technical assistance programme, including by issuing all necessary instructions to the national competent authority and providing all material facilities necessary for the successful conduct of the assistance programme. During the implementation of the technical assistance programme, the Member State concerned shall remain responsible for the certification, oversight and enforcement tasks, in accordance with Article 62(2). The Agency shall bear its own costs when providing assistance to the Member State concerned. When implementing the technical assistance programme, the Member State concerned shall, if appropriate, given the nature of the deficiencies, make use of the pool of European aviation inspectors established under Article 63, of the qualified entities under Article 69, and of the training possibilities envisaged under Article 92.

3.The Agency shall provide updates to the Commission and the other Member States on the progress made in the implementation of the technical assistance programme.

4.The Member State concerned shall make all possible efforts to restore its ability to perform certification, oversight and enforcement tasks under this Regulation. If the Member State concerned recognises that the technical support programme cannot be implemented as planned, it shall inform the Commission thereof and shall either reallocate its responsibilities for certification, oversight and enforcement tasks to the Agency or to another Member State in accordance with Article 64 or take other measures to resolve the deficiencies. The scope of the reallocation shall be limited to what is strictly necessary in order to address the deficiencies identified. The Agency shall include in the repository established under Article 74 the information about the tasks that have been reallocated and shall make that information public.

5.This Article shall be without prejudice to the application of other measures, including Article 67 of this Regulation and Regulation (EC) No 2111/2005.