Mr. Philip von Schöppenthau:

On the questions put by Deputy Dessie Ellis, we are very unhappy about three key issues. There are actually more than three, but we are focused on three today. The European Cockpit Association has a shortlist of seven.

The Deputy mentioned stand-by pilots being woken up. This is one of the problem areas. If one is on long-term stand-by, called "reserve stand-by", there is no mechanism to protect one's rest periods and sleep opportunities. One could be called in the middle of an afternoon sleep or early in the morning, thus ruining one's sleep. One cannot get the sleep needed to operate later. There are a number of other issues, but these are really the key ones that have been mentioned today.

I was asked whether there was an opt-out mechanism. There is not. The new rules will apply all over Europe. The idea is to harmonise them across Europe. It is legally possible for individual member states to keep stricter or more protective rules at national level if they wish to. This allowed the United Kingdom to keep the significantly stricter CAP 371. Worryingly, however, under the EASA rules, this possibility will end. Therefore, countries which today have stricter rules in general or specific areas will be forced to downgrade their safety standard to the new EU-wide standard. We in Brussels are very much trying to safeguard the principle of non-regression, or what we call the safety-enhancement principle, in order that countries will be able to maintain or introduce stricter standards at national level if they wish to. This battle is not yet won.

Scientific evidence has been ignored. We asked EASA once and the Commission twice to meet scientists again to consider the latest proposal, published in October 2012. On two occasions we received a negative answer and did not get an answer to our last request. Therefore, neither EASA nor the European Commission wants to have the latest proposal subjected to another scientific review to determine whether the new package is safe. The package could be safe, but the scientists should be allowed to have another look in order that member states and the European Parliament which will have to deliberate on it will have all the information necessary to make a judgment. It would be better to do this because, if it is not done, there could be a legal case. The European Cockpit Association is examining very carefully the possibility of challenging these rules at the European Court of Justice, but we all know it will take between three and five years for the court to take a decision. In the meantime, the rules will have entered into force. It is better to listen to scientific evidence, make the system safe right away and apply the precautionary principle, which is very important.

When I examined the transcript of the committee's hearing with the Irish Aviation Authority, the authority's position was not entirely clear to me. It is important to know that the process can be influenced and shaped by the Government and the authority.

It is not over yet. We are approaching two key milestones. The first is on 13 February in Cologne when EASA holds a workshop on stand-by specifically because a number of member states were unhappy with the stand-by provisions in the EASA proposal. This offers the Irish Aviation Authority an opportunity to tighten up the position on stand-by. The other milestone is the so-called EASA committee of member state representatives who will meet in Brussels from 19 to 21 February. Member states, including Ireland, will be able to set out their positions and share their caveats with other states.

The European Parliament will be considering this proposal prior to the summer but two weeks ago it decided it had sufficient questions to hold a hearing in the transport committee with EASA, the Commission, airlines, aircrew and scientists in order to gather all the information they require to make an informed decision. We think this is good news which shows that the European Parliament will not simply rubber stamp what comes from the Commission. The European Commission Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport is ready to take on what EASA has proposed but the distance between their proposals is not sufficiently critical. It is up to member states to make their voices heard and Ireland has a particularly important voice while it has the Presidency.