Council Decision (EU) 2020/1075 of 26 June 2020 on the conclusion of the Agreement on civil aviation safety between the European Union and the Government of the People’s Republic of China

The Agreement on civil aviation safety between the European Union and the Government of the People’s Republic of China (the ‘Agreement’) is hereby approved on behalf of the Union. The text of the Agreement is attached to this Decision.

The President of the Council shall, on behalf of the Union, give the notification provided for in Article 17(1) of the Agreement .

1 The Union shall be represented in the Joint Committee established by Article 11(1) of the Agreement by the European Commission, assisted by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (‘EASA’) and accompanied by the aviation authorities as representatives of the Member States.

2 The Union shall be represented in the Certification Oversight Board established by point 3.1.1 of Annex I to the Agreement by EASA, assisted by the aviation authorities directly concerned by the agenda of each meeting.

The Commission shall be authorised to approve, on behalf of the Union, amendments to the Annexes to the Agreement adopted by the Joint Committee in accordance with point (c) of Article 11(2) and Article 17(6) of the Agreement in so far as such amendments are consistent with, and do not entail any modification of, relevant Union legal acts, subject to the following conditions: (a) The Commission shall ensure that the approval on behalf of the Union: is in the interests of the Union, serves the objectives pursued by the Union within the framework of its aviation safety and trade policy, takes into account the interests of the manufacturers, traders and consumers of the Union, is not contrary to Union law or international law, where applicable, supports the improvement of the quality of aeronautical products by improving the detection of fraudulent and misleading practices, where applicable, aims at the approximation of standards relating to aeronautical products, where applicable, avoids creating obstacles to innovation, and where applicable, facilitates trade in aeronautical products. (b) The Commission submits the proposed amendments to the Council in a timely manner before their approval. Coreper shall assess whether the proposed amendments satisfy the conditions laid down in point (a). The Commission shall approve the proposed amendments on behalf of the Union unless a number of Member States representing a blocking minority of the Council in accordance with Article 16(4) of the Treaty on European Union object to them. If there is such a blocking minority, the Commission shall reject the proposed amendments on behalf of the Union.

1 The Commission may take the following action: (a) adopt safeguard measures in accordance with point (b) of Article 5(1) of the Agreement; (b) request consultations in accordance with Article 15(3) of the Agreement; (c) take measures to suspend reciprocal acceptance obligations and to rescind such suspension in accordance with Article 16 of the Agreement.

2 The Commission shall notify to the Council sufficiently in advance its intention to take action under this Article.

This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.