Article 4 Competent authority for certification, oversight and enforcement

Regulation (EU) 2017/373

1.       The competent authority responsible for the issuing of certificates to service providers, for the acknowledgment of receipts of declarations made by providers of flight information services referred to in Article 7 where relevant, and for the oversight and enforcement in respect of service providers shall be the national supervisory authority referred to in Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 549/2004 of the Member State where the legal or natural person applying for the certificate or making the declaration has its principal place of operation or, if any, its registered office, unless the Agency is the competent authority pursuant to Article 22a of Regulation (EC) No 216/2008.

For the purposes of this Regulation, data services providers and the Network Manager shall be considered to be pan-European service providers in respect of which, in accordance with point (c) of Article 22a of Regulation (EC) No 216/2008, the Agency is the competent authority.

2.       The competent authorities referred to in paragraph 1 shall comply with the requirements laid down in Annex II.

3.       Where one of the service providers concerned is an organisation in respect of which the Agency is the competent authority, the competent authorities of the Member States concerned shall coordinate with the Agency in order to ensure that the requirements set out in points (1), (2) and (3) of point ATM/ANS.AR.A.005(b) of Annex II are complied with where, alternatively:

(a)      service providers provide services in respect of functional airspace blocks that extend across the airspace falling under the responsibility of more than one Member State, as referred to in Article 2(3) of Regulation (EC) No 550/2004;

(b)     service providers provide cross-border air navigation services as referred to in Article 2(5) of Regulation (EC) No 550/2004.

4.       Where a Member State has nominated or established more than one competent authority in accordance with Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 549/2004 or as referred to in Article 2(3) to (6) of Regulation (EC) No 550/2004 to exercise the certification, oversight and enforcement tasks under this Regulation, it shall ensure that the areas of competence of each of those authorities are clearly defined, in particular in terms of responsibilities and geographic and airspace limitation. In such a case, those authorities shall establish coordination between them, based on written arrangements, so as to ensure effective oversight and enforcement in respect of all service providers to which they issued certificates or, where relevant, which made declarations to them.

5.       When exercising their certification, oversight and enforcement tasks under this Regulation, the competent authorities shall be independent of any service provider. That independence shall be ensured by adequate separation, at least at the functional level, between the competent authorities and the service providers. In this context, Member States shall ensure that the competent authorities exercise their powers impartially and transparently.

6.       Member States and, where the Agency is the competent authority, the Commission shall ensure that their competent authorities do not allow their personnel to be involved in the exercise of the certification, oversight and enforcement tasks of that authority under this Regulation where there are indications that such involvement could result, directly or indirectly, in a conflict of interest, in particular relating to family or financial interests.

7.       The Agency shall maintain a database of contact details of the competent authorities referred to in paragraph 1. For this purpose, Member States shall notify the Agency of the names and addresses of their competent authorities, and of any subsequent changes thereto.

8.       Member States and, where the Agency is the competent authority, the Commission shall determine the necessary resources and capabilities required by the competent authorities for the exercise of their tasks, in accordance with Article 4(4) of Regulation (EC) No 549/2004 and Article 22a of Regulation (EC) No 216/2008, taking into account all relevant factors, including an assessment carried out by the respective competent authorities to determine the resources needed for the exercise of their tasks under this Regulation.