REPORT on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 1592/2002 as regards the term of office of the Executive Director and the Directors of the European Aviation Safety Agency

28.11.2005 - (COM(2005)0190 – C6-0151/2005 – 2005/0087(COD)) - ***I

Committee on Legal Affairs
Rapporteur: Giuseppe Gargani

DRAFT EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION

on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 1592/2002 as regards the term of office of the Executive Director and the Directors of the European Aviation Safety Agency

(COM(2005)0190 – C6-0151/2005 – 2005/0087(COD))

(Codecision procedure: first reading)

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the Commission proposal to the European Parliament and the Council (COM(2005)0190)[1],

–   having regard to Article 251(2) and Article 80(2) of the EC Treaty, pursuant to which the Commission submitted the proposal to Parliament (C6-0151/2005),

–   having regard to Rule 51 of its Rules of Procedure,

–   having regard to the report of the Committee on Legal Affairs and the opinion of the Committee on Transport and Tourism (A6-0362/2005),

1.  Approves the Commission proposal as amended;

2.  Calls on the Commission to refer the matter to Parliament again if it intends to amend the proposal substantially or replace it with another text;

3.  Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council and Commission.

Text proposed by the Commission	Amendments by Parliament
Amendment 1 RECITAL 1 A (new)
	(1a) Provision should be made for the Executive Director to be appointed on a proposal from the Commission, after hearing the opinion of the representative appointed by the European Parliament.
Amendment 2 RECITAL 2
(2) Provision should be made to extend this term of office once, after suitable evaluation.	(2) Provision should be made to extend this term of office once, after suitable evaluation and after hearing the representative of the European Parliament.
Amendment 3 ARTICLE 1, PARAGRAPH -1 (new) Article 30, paragraph 1 (Regulation (EC) No. 1592/2002)
	Article 30(1) of Regulation (EC) No. 1592/2002 is replaced by the following: "1. The Executive Director of the Agency shall be appointed on grounds of merit and documented competence and experience relevant for civil aviation, or dismissed, by the Management Board on the proposal of the Commission, after hearing the opinion of the representative appointed by the European Parliament. The Management Board shall take its decision by a three-quarters majority of its members."
Amendment 4 ARTICLE 1 Article 30, paragraph 4, subparagraph 1 (Regulation (EC) No 1592/2002)
4. The term of office of the Executive Director and of the Directors shall be five years. On a proposal from the Commission and after an evaluation, their term of office may be extended once, for a period of not more than five years.	4. The term of office of the Executive Director and of the Directors shall be five years. On a proposal from the Commission, after hearing the opinion of the representative appointed by the European Parliament and after an evaluation, their term of office may be extended once, for a period of not more than five years.

• [1]  Not yet published in OJ.

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

The renewal of the terms of office of the directors of the 18 decentralised agencies and bodies set up under the first pillar raises a legal problem which has been identified by the Commission's legal service.

The use of the term 'renewable' in the basic regulations for the various agencies harks back to Article 214(1) of the EC Treaty, on appointing Commission Members, and Articles 223 and 225 on appointing Court of Justice Judges. In neither case, however, may a simplified procedure be applied.

If the same practice were applied, the various agencies would have to follow the lengthy -and expensive - appointment procedure laid down in the basic regulations in order to extend the term of office of their respective directors.

To solve this problem, the Commission has submitted to us 18 proposals for regulations for the purpose of amending the various basic regulations.

Your rapporteur approves the Commission proposals but is taking this opportunity to give Parliament a role in the procedures for the appointment, and renewal of the term of office of, the directors of the agencies in question.

OPINION of the Committee on Transport and Tourism (24.11.2005)

for the Committee on Legal Affairs

on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation(EC) No 1592/2002 as regards the term of office of the Executive Director and the Directors of the European Aviation Safety Agency
(COM(2005)0190 – C6-0151/2005 – 2005/0087(COD))

Draftsman: Paolo Costa

SHORT JUSTIFICATION

In the EU there are now 20 decentralised bodies which can be categorised as Community agencies. One of them is EASA, the European Aviation Safety Agency, established by Regulation 1(EC) No 592/2002.

Agency directors are usually nominated for 4 to 5 years. At the end of that period, the body responsible for appointment until recently simply adopted a decision extending the incumbent director's term of office. The Commission thinks this practice poses a legal problem; according to interpretation of the Treaty and practice followed for European Commissioners and Judges, at the end of a director's term of office, a whole new appointment procedure should be launched.

This procedure however would be lengthy, expensive and could hamper the agency's work. The Commission therefore proposes as an alternative a simplified procedure, which still includes some sort of evaluation.

To this end, in the case of EASA, Article 30(4) of Regulation (EC) No 1592/2002 should be amended. The amended provision states that the term of office of the director can be extended only once for a period of not more than 5 years, and after an evaluation that assesses the results achieved in the first term of office and the way they have been achieved, and the Agency's duties and requirements in the coming years.

AMENDMENTS

The Committee on Transport and Tourism calls on the Committee on Legal Affairs, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following amendments in its report:

Text by the Commission	Amendments by Parliament
Amendment 1 ARTICLE 1 Article 30, paragraph 4 (Regulation (EC) No 1592/2002)
"4. The term of office of the Executive Director and of the Directors shall be five years. On a proposal from the Commission and after an evaluation, their term of office may be extended once, for a period of not more than five years.	"4. The term of office of the Executive Director and of the Directors shall be five years. On a proposal from the Commission and after an evaluation by the Commission and the Management Board, their term of office may be extended once, for a period of not more than five years.
In the evaluation the Commission shall assess in particular:	In the evaluation they shall assess in particular:
–the results achieved in the first term of office and the way in which they have been achieved;	–the results achieved in the first term of office and the way in which they have been achieved;
–the Agency’s duties and requirements in the coming years."	–the Agency’s duties and requirements in the coming years."
Justification
The Management Board and the Commission are the most appropriate bodies to carry out the evaluation.

PROCEDURE

Title	Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 1592/2002 as regards the term of office of the Executive Director and the Directors of the European Aviation Safety Agency
References	COM(2005)0190 – C6-0151/2005 – 2005/0087(COD)
Committee responsible	JURI
Opinion by   Date announced in plenary	TRAN 7.6.2005
Enhanced cooperation – date announced in plenary
Drafts(wo)man   Date appointed	Paolo Costa 14.6.2005
Previous drafts(wo)man
Discussed in committee	11.10.2005		21.11.2005
Date adopted	22.11.2005
Result of final vote	+: –: 0:	43 1 1
Members present for the final vote	Inés Ayala Sender, Etelka Barsi-Pataky, Philip Bradbourn, Michael Cramer, Arūnas Degutis, Christine De Veyrac, Armando Dionisi, Petr Duchoň, Saïd El Khadraoui, Robert Evans, Mathieu Grosch, Ewa Hedkvist Petersen, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, Georg Jarzembowski, Dieter-Lebrecht Koch, Jaromír Kohlíček, Jörg Leichtfried, Bogusław Liberadzki, Eva Lichtenberger, Patrick Louis, Erik Meijer, Ashley Mote, Michael Henry Nattrass, Seán Ó Neachtain, Janusz Onyszkiewicz, Josu Ortuondo Larrea, Willi Piecyk, Luís Queiró, Reinhard Rack, Luca Romagnoli, Gilles Savary, Dirk Sterckx, Ulrich Stockmann, Gary Titley, Georgios Toussas, Marta Vincenzi, Corien Wortmann-Kool, Roberts Zīle
Substitute(s) present for the final vote	Jas Gawronski, Zita Gurmai, Joost Lagendijk, Antonio López-Istúriz White, Rosa Miguélez Ramos, Francesco Musotto, Willem Schuth
Substitute(s) under Rule 178(2) present for the final vote
Comments (available in one language only)

PROCEDURE

Title	Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 1592/2002 as regards the term of office of the Executive Director and the Directors of the European Aviation Safety Agency
References	COM(2005)0190 – C6-0151/2005 – 2005/0087(COD)
Date of consulting Parliament	13.5.2005
Committee responsible   Date announced in plenary	JURI 7.6.2005
Committee(s) asked for opinion(s)   Date announced in plenary	TRAN 7.6.2005
Not delivering opinion(s)   Date of decision
Enhanced cooperation   Date announced in plenary
Rapporteur(s)   Date appointed	Giuseppe Gargani 15.6.2005
Previous rapporteur(s)
Simplified procedure – date of decision  Date of decision
Legal basis disputed   Date of JURI opinion		/
Financial endowment amended   Date of BUDG opinion		/
Parliament to consult European Economic and Social Committee – date decided in plenary
Parliament to consult Committee of the Regions – date decided in plenary
Discussed in committee	5.9.2005	5.10.2005			22.11.2005
Date adopted	22.11.2005
Result of final vote	+ : – : 0 :		12 0 0
Members present for the final vote	Maria Berger, Bert Doorn, Giuseppe Gargani, Kurt Lechner, Klaus-Heiner Lehne, Aloyzas Sakalas, Rainer Wieland, Nicola Zingaretti, Tadeusz Zwiefka
Substitute(s) present for the final vote	Nicole Fontaine, Othmar Karas, Marie Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou
Substitute(s) under Rule 178(2) present for the final vote
Date tabled	28.11.2005			A6-0362/2005
Comments (available in one language only)	...