Thank you, A_A, I was going to state the same but was unsure of the exact vocabulary. Neither did I know that EASA regulations have immediate and binding effect. Just a shade of nuance: EU member countries are supposed to implement EU directives in their national law, but they don’t always do so, not at least immediately. My own country is often reluctant and/or late to comply, costing our exchequer a fair bit of European fines.
Thank you Airborne. I am aware of the difference, I just mixed up the English terminology and thought that regulations were directives and vice versa.
Rwy20 wrote:
If it works like in Switzerland, then there will be a law passed that enacts each EU directive (which is in fact a law in the EU, as Airborne_Again has pointed out). That law would then give the EU regulation the legal status of a national law. I would be astonished if it were different in Norway, which would mean that the EU (EASA) directives are never voted upon by the parliament before entering into force?
The way it works is the parliament pass laws, then the government (or one bureau, or some local authority) makes regulations. These regulations have to be approved (voted for) by the parliament, and is also up for public comments. EU regulations can never become law in Norway, it just isn’t possible (and I doubt they can do that in Switzerland also). Part FCL, Part Sera, NCO etc are just like any other regulations.
Jan_Olieslagers wrote:
Neither did I know that EASA regulations have immediate and binding effect.
They are in fact passed by the Commission. It’s not just some terminology that EASA uses, they are regulations in the EU law sense.
@LeSving, the adoption of a EU regulation does not necessarily require a change in a text of law which would require a vote by the Norwegian parliament. The vast majority of EU directives and regulations are adopted as regulations (forskrift) which do not require parliamentary adoption.
As an example, here is an overview of the adoption process for EU 245/2014.
LeSving wrote:
EU regulations can never become law in Norway, it just isn’t possible (and I doubt they can do that in Switzerland also).
I actually looked a bit further. It seems that aviation regulations are the only exception, in which Switzerland takes over EU regulations directly. This competence is given to the Bundesrat in a law (Article 6a of the Luftfahrtgesetz), and it is further delegated to the ministry of transport (UVEK) in Article 138a of the Luftfahrtverordnung.
So yes, the law regulates how these rules become binding, but the EASA rules themselves are not voted upon and they probably are below the status of a law.
As reference for German / French / Italian speakers, the exception for aviation regulations is mentioned here as 2c:
Das Luftverkehrsabkommen, das als partielles Integrationsabkommen zu einer teilweisen Harmonisierung der Rechtsordnungen führen soll, weicht vom Prinzip der Gleichwertigkeit der Gesetzgebungen ab. Die im Abkommen zitierten Erlasse des EU-Rechts werden auf die Schweiz ausgedehnt. Das schweizerische Recht ist lediglich noch auf rein “intranationale” Sachverhalte anwendbar.
