Air Transport Portal of the European Commission

European Civil Aviation Handbook

Introduction

Specialists make a distinction between air safety, which is concerned with the rules for the construction and use of aircraft, and air security, which is aimed at the prevention of illegal acts in the field of aviation.

Security has always been a matter of concern in the field of aviation, in particular since the Lockerbie bombing in 1988. However, this concern has always been addressed on an essentially national and intergovernmental basis rather than a Community one. 

Security standards (laid down by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC)) already existed prior to 11 September 2001. However, they did not appear to be adequately applied since there is no binding mechanism to guarantee their proper application. 

The attacks on 11 September showed that there is an unprecedented dimension to the terrorist threat which justifies the need for coherence in all cooperation efforts (banks, police, courts, etc.) and effective action. It has therefore been decided to introduce an EU security policy based on the legal instruments provided by the Treaty in order to give legal force to the rules and mechanisms for cooperation at EU level.

• The Commission, at the request of the European Council, has proposed that the same rules with regard to security should be applied at all EU airports, for both national and international flights. To ensure that these rules are complied with, the Commission has also proposed arrangements for inspections in Member States and at airports. The proposal is at the final stage of adoption by the European Parliament and the Council and should enter into force in 2002.

• The new terrorist threat shows the need for tougher controls and in particular for better training of staff and better coordination of the staff responsible for security. These needs were set out in a report sent to the Council in December 2001.

• The reinforcement of cockpit doors in response to security concerns will lead to the adoption of other EU measures as regards safety (a video link between the cockpit and the cabin) and air navigation (the inviolability of the transponder).

Following the attacks on 11 September 2001, the EU immediately decided to raise the matter of security with the ICAO and asked for a special conference to be called in February 2002. The conference led to the adoption of: 

• international standards on the reinforcement of cockpit doors;

• a compulsory international control mechanism for compliance with international rules by the ICAO members. The Member States have promised to finance this inspection programme.

	EUROPEAN COMMISSION/US CUSTOMS TALKS ON PNR TRANSMISSION (90 Kb) BRUSSELS, 17/18 FEBRUARY 2003 -  JOINT STATEMENT
	Regulation (EC) No 2320/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2002 establishing common rules in the field of civil aviation security
	Symposium on Air Travel Security, 24 June 2002, Brussels (94 Kb)
	Short presentation of the proposal for a regulation establishing common rules for civil aviation security (260 Kb)  October 2001
	Presse release, 10/10/2001 Towards new EU rules on aviation security following the attacks