Brexit: Civil Aviation

Why does Brexit matter for you?

The United Kingdom submitted on 29 March 2017 the notification of its intention to withdraw from the Union pursuant to Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. This means that, unless a ratified withdrawal agreement establishes another date, all Union primary and secondary law will cease to apply to the United Kingdom from 30 March 2019, 00:00h (CET) ('the withdrawal date'). The United Kingdom will then become a 'third country'.

If no withdrawal agreement is in place on 30 March 2019 the EU Treaties will cease to apply to the UK. It is understood that, should there be "no deal", there will be no transition period and EU law (in particular, the Single Market) will cease to apply to the UK/EU relationship from that date.

Preparing for the withdrawal is not just a matter for EU and national authorities, but also for private parties. As the British government publishes a series of technical notices outlining how businesses should prepare in the event of a no-deal it is becoming more and more clear that a “no deal” scenario will have many unwanted and adverse effects on companies in the UK.

In case of a hard Brexit, what will change?

CERTIFICATES ISSUED BY THE EUROPEAN AVIATION SAFETY AGENCY TO HOLDERS LOCATED IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

In accordance with Article 20 of the Basic Regulation , the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) carries out the functions and tasks of the state of design on behalf of Member States with regard to the type certificates for products , certificates for parts and appliances, and certificates for design organisations.

Such certificates issued by EASA to persons and organisations located in the United Kingdom will therefore no longer be valid in the EU as of the withdrawal date. The products, parts and appliances concerned will no longer be considered as certified in accordance with Article 5 of the Basic Regulation.

CERTIFICATES ISSUED BY THE COMPETENT AUTHORITIES OF THE UNITED KINGDOM

Certificates issued before the withdrawal date by the competent authorities of the United Kingdom on the basis of the provisions of the Basic Regulation and its implementing rules will no longer be valid as of the withdrawal date in the EU.

This concerns in particular:

- Certificates of airworthiness, restricted certificates of airworthiness, permits to fly, approvals of organisations responsible for the maintenance of products, parts and appliances, approvals for organisations responsible for the manufacture of products, parts and appliances, approvals for maintenance training organisations, and certificates for personnel responsible for the release of a product, part or appliance after maintenance, issued pursuant to Article 5 of the Basic Regulation;

- Pilot licences, pilot medical certificates, certificates for pilot training organisations, certificates for aero-medical centres, certificates for flight simulation training devices, certificates for persons responsible for providing flight training, flight simulation training or assessing pilots' skill, and certificates for aero medical examiners, issued pursuant to Article 7 of the Basic Regulation;

- Certificates for air operators and attestations for the cabin crew, issued pursuant to Article 8 of the Basic Regulation;

- Certificates for aerodromes, certificates for ATM/ANS providers, licences and medical certificates for air traffic controllers, certificates for air traffic controller training organisations, certificates for aero medical centres and aero medical examiners responsible for air traffic controllers, certificates for persons responsible for providing practical training or assessing the skills of air traffic controllers, issued pursuant to Articles 8a, 8b and 8c of the Basic Regulation.

AIRCRAFT OPERATORS FROM THE UNITED KINGDOM

As of the withdrawal date, aircraft operators from the United Kingdom will be considered as ‘third country’ operators within the meaning of Article 4(1)(d) of the Basic Regulation and other EU legislation on aviation safety. This means that a safety authorisation from the EASA will be required in accordance with Articles 9 and 23 of the Basic Regulation.

AIRCRAFT REGISTERED IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

As of the withdrawal date aircraft registered in the United Kingdom will be considered as ‘third country’ registered aircraft within the meaning of Article 4(1)(b),(c) and (d) of the Basic Regulation and other EU legislation on aviation safety.

This means that EU aircraft operators using such aircraft will need to comply with the provisions of the Basic Regulation and its implementing rules, as well as relevant provisions stemming from Regulation (EC) No 1008/2008 on air services concerning the use of ‘third country’ registered aircraft. In particular, EU-27 air carriers intending to wet lease aircraft registered in the United Kingdom will be bound by the corresponding provisions relating to such aircraft. As regards safety, they will thus have to demonstrate that safety standards equivalent to those imposed by Union or national law are met.

How can we help you?

Our specialists are ready to guide your company through the swamp of regulatory issues in a post-Brexit landscape.

We provide advice on incorporating a company in Belgium in case you need to relocate or in case you need a EU – based company to continue your business.

Belgian government is working on creating an entrepreneur-friendly environment: corporate tax rate has been decreased to 29% and will further be lowered to 25% in 2020. SMEs will benefit a decrease in the rate to 20% (on the first tranche of 100.000 Euro), corporate law will be reformed by 2019 and provides more flexible corporate entities and less strenuous formalities.

Belgium is ideally positioned at the heart of Europe to continue your activities on the mainland.

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