Article 140 – Transitional provisions

1.       The certificates and specific airworthiness specifications issued or recognised and the declarations made or recognised in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 216/2008 and its implementing rules shall continue to be valid and shall be deemed to have been issued, made and recognised pursuant to the corresponding provisions of this Regulation, including for the purposes of applying Article 67.

2.       Not later than 12 September 2023 the implementing rules adopted on the basis of Regulations (EC) No 216/2008 and (EC) No 552/2004 shall be adapted to this Regulation. Until adaptation, any references in those implementing rules to:

(a)      ‘commercial operation’ shall be understood as a reference to point (i) of Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 216/2008;

(b)     ‘complex motor-powered aircraft’ shall be understood as a reference to point (j) of Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 216/2008;

(c)      ‘appliances’ shall be understood as a reference to point (29) of Article 3 of this Regulation;

(d)     ‘leisure pilot licence’ shall be understood as a reference to the licence referred to in Article 7(7) of Regulation (EC) No 216/2008.

3.       The Agency shall issue, at the latest two years after 11 September 2018, in accordance with Article 76(1) and 76(3) of this Regulation, opinions concerning proposals for amendments to Commission Regulations (EU) No 748/2012[57], (EU) No 1321/2014[58], (EU) No 1178/2011[59], and (EU) No 965/2012[60] and the applicable certification specification in order to adapt them, as regards aircraft intended primarily for sports and recreational use, to this Regulation.

4.       By 12 September 2021 the Agency may issue guidance material for voluntary use by Member States to support the development of proportionate national rules concerning the design, production, maintenance and operation of aircraft listed in Annex I.

5.       By way of derogation from Articles 55 and 56, the relevant provisions of Regulation (EC) No 216/2008 shall continue to apply until the delegated acts referred to in Article 58 and the implementing acts referred to in Article 57 of this Regulation enter into force.

6.       Member States shall terminate or adjust existing bilateral agreements that they concluded with third countries for the fields covered by this Regulation as soon as possible following the entry into force of this Regulation and in any event before 12 September 2021.