European Plan for Aviation Safety 2018 - 2022 published by EASA

EASA has published the 2018 - 2022 European Plan for Aviation Safety. 

Air safety does not stop at borders, and cooperation amongst aviation stakeholders is needed more than ever in the face of rising traffic levels, diminishing resources and the opportunities and challenges presented by new technologies.

The European Plan for Aviation Safety (EPAS), a component of the European Aviation Safety Programme (EASP), provides a coherent and transparent framework for safety work at regional level, helping the identification of major safety risks and actions to take, supporting Member States to implement their State Safety Programmes (SSP) and the Global Aviation Safety Plan (GASP), and aiding the sharing of best practice and knowledge. The plan also includes European states not under the EASA umbrella.

The 2018-2022 edition of the EPAS is based on the following principles:

• One comprehensive document. The EPAS and RMP have been combined into one single document, thus providing the EASA stakeholders with a comprehensive and coherent vision of what EASA intends to do in the coming years in order to improve safety or the environmental performance of the aviation sector (safety/environment driver), to support fair competition and free movement of persons and services (level playing field driver), and to support business, technological development and competitiveness (efficiency/proportionality driver). 
• The regional dimension. During ICAO 39th Assembly, ICAO Members supported the application of a regional approach to safety, capacity and efficiency improvements through the establishment of regional partnerships (such as Regional Aviation Systems), where appropriate regional aviation safety oversight organisations (RSOOs) should have significant potential to ensure the future safety of air navigation globally. Furthermore, the application of a regional approach will ensure that, in the spirit of resolution A39-23, No Country is Left Behind. In this context, the inclusion in EPAS of International Cooperation and Technical Training strategies emphasises the need to consider more than ever the coordination of, and support to, safety actions at regional and international levels, thereby acknowledging the growing role of RSOOs. 
• Rulemaking cool-down. The document materialises the ambition to cool-down the rulemaking output already set up in the previous edition. In particularly, the delivery of the number of opinions over the next five years has been reduced as compared to the previous years. This reflects the need to put more focus on supporting the implementation of recently adopted regulations and give priorities to other means to improve safety, notably like Focused Oversight and Safety Promotion. The shift to Safety Promotion is particularly significant in the field of General Aviation safety. 
• Research. The research actions have undergone a full review, resulting in the incorporation of new research projects. This illustrates the growing importance of Research in the EU policies as an enabler to enhance safety. 

The strategic approach in the areas of research, international cooperation, technical training and oversight is described in section 3.2 Strategic enablers. This section is new in this year’s edition. The strategic priorities identified in the previous edition have been confirmed by stakeholders and therefore remain unchanged in this edition.

Read or download the complete report here: European Plan for Aviation Safety 2018 - 2022