Daniel Hoeltgen is the Communications Manager of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). He was approached by Darik News to comment the upcoming November inspection of the aviation safety in Bulgaria.

Tsvetana Minkova from Darik News talked to Daniel Hoeltgen*

Q: How does your agency carry out the inspections on the condition of aircrafts in the different countries?

A: EASA undertakes inspections in the EU member states and the candidate countries Bulgaria and Romania, which will be joining the European Union in 2007. These inspections take place once or twice a year with about four experts from the EU, headed by an expert of our agency. Our inspections are made at the national aviation authority. That means we don't inspect individual operators, we inspect the national authorities and report to these authorities any findings, which we make during inspections. In the case of candidate countries we submit our reports to the European Commission in Brussels.

Q: How many inspections have you made in Bulgaria until present?

A: We have made an inspection in May 2005. The report was forwarded to the Bulgarian aviation authority and the European Commission. We are about to make another inspection by the end of November this year.

Q: Do you think the conditions at the Bulgarian aviation sector have not changed since your last report and the criticism of the European Commission is justified?

A: We usually do not reveal our findings in public because it is agreed that they are reported only to the EC and to the national authority. I cannot make any public statement of what was examined. There were findings, as we call them, which were reported to the Bulgarian authority and the EC and the Commission expects that the Bulgarian government act upon these findings.

Q: How do you think, is it possible for Bulgaria to have made improvements in this area and that EC's criticism is out of date because the information you provided is old?

A: It is always possible that improvements are made in the mean time. But you have to understand that this inspection was carried out for the EC on its behalf through our agency here and hence it is up to the Commission to make any political comments. But I must emphasize again that I believe there have been issues in the past and there is now a chance to resolve them with the next inspection in November. I think the EC expects Bulgaria to act upon its recommendations so there is a chance to act upon and if you wish also to improve on those issues.

Q: Will Bulgaria be able to make the required reforms in time?

A: We are quite hopeful that the Bulgarian government and the authority will be in the position. Our inspections are really intended to help the authorities, which we inspect not only in Bulgaria but also in all Member states just as we carry out inspections in France, Germany and Cyprus, for example. They are intended to help the authorities; they are tooled to help the authorities to implement the European standards and we very much hope that these standards can be implemented.

Q: Do all the state members cover the European aircraft criteria and follow your recommendations?

A: In general, we can say yes, they respond to our recommendations. But you also have to understand that our agency and the European system of inspections is a fairly new process, which is only been really in place since 2005 and we have not yet reached our aim which is a common high standard across all members states. We should be able to achieve our goal through further inspections and standardization measures in the next months and years. So to answer your question: Member states in general do respond but we have not yet reached a common level, which is our final aim.

Q: What are the sanctions for the countries that do not cover the common standards?

A: When the agency finds out an issue to be resolved, first of all it informs the national authority. Then comes an exchange of correspondence and data between us ant the authorities. In the case of Bulgaria this exchange is done also through the EC because the Commission is in charge of the accession negotiations. If after several exchanges the national authority does not react, does not improve, the final measure of sanction is a so-called entrenchment procedure, which is not launched by us because we are only a technical body. It is launched by the EC with the government of the respected member state. So this would mean you can have an entrenchment when the member state is not meeting the European aviation standards. That is the final threat.

Q: What exactly are these entrenchment measures?

A: Entrenchment measures are basically when the EC takes a country to court. This can end in financial fines. It is a very harsh diplomatic means basically of punishing a country.

Q: Will Bulgarian aircrafts be banned from flying in the European air space?

A: That is at the moment a pure speculation. I wouldn't want to go that far. I really strongly believe that before such measures would be taken, the Bulgarian government would be able to resolve any issues if they were raised by the EC.

Q: Bulgarian planes are too old or badly maintained?

A: We are now entering a level of detail, which I cannot comment because the result of this report was given exclusively to the EC and the Bulgarian authority. It is no secret that there are many aircrafts operating and registered in Bulgaria, which are of an older type, some old ex-Soviet model, which have to be reviewed, and probably maintained according to European standards. That is a challenge which both the Europeans sand the Bulgarians are addressing together. I think most aircrafts could be properly maintained if there is a system, which is agreed between the authorities and whether this system is implemented properly. I think you will find most aircrafts can be safe if they are properly maintained but hey have to be maintained according to certain rules and certain procedures and these have to be agreed between the national authorities and the EASA. This is in fact part of the inspection and the negotiations, which takes place between the Bulgarian authorities and us.

Q: You mean Bulgarian aircrafts are badly maintained?

A: I am not saying that. That is what you are saying. I am saying planes can be dangerous if not maintained properly. They can be if the system is in place and if it is agreed.


*Translated by Lora Petrova, Sofia News Agency

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