Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to ensure that British aviation supply companies will be able to qualify for work certified by the European Aviation Safety Agency after the UK leaves the EU; and if he will make a statement.

The UK is seeking continued participation in the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) system in order to facilitate the continued frictionless trade in aerospace goods between the UK and EU. The UK, with the second largest aerospace sector in the world, supplies vital components to aerospace exporters within the EU. It is not in the interests of the UK or the EU to disrupt the ‘just in time’ supply chains of our integrated aerospace sector.

The Commission has proposed a regulation which, when agreed, would provide an extension of the validity of certain safety certificates issued to or by UK based organisations. In addition, The Aviation Safety (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations which were laid in draft on 26 November 2018 provide that certificates issued by EASA or an EU Member State shall remain valid for a period of up to 2 years.