Yesterday (HERE) the UK aircraft industry trade bodies wrote to Michel Barnier asking him to allow talks to begin between the Civil Aviation Authority and the European Aviation Safety Agency which would enable aircraft parts made in the UK to be certified after Brexit. I don't think there is any doubt that the EU negotiator will ultimately agree something on Aviation because it would mean Airbus, for example, wouldn't be able to use wings or other UK made parts that have been under CAA certification. But you can be sure they will use this to put more pressure on our side.
The Telegraph report it HERE in one of those SHOCK HORROR stories, but hidden in the business section, under the headline: Warning - Aircraft could be grounded as Aerospace industry calls for separate talks. As if they hadn't been warned!
The letter asks for talks to begin immediately:
“The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) need to urgently begin technical and contingency planning discussions by the June European Council, and separate to the political negotiations,” the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) and the ADS Group said in a letter to the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier.
The Telegraph reports says:
"Airbus makes the wings for its airliners in the UK, and Rolls-Royce engines are also built here – just two of the companies who could be affected. Pilots and engineers who have trained in the UK could also find their licences suddenly being invalidated.
"Even if an agreement is ratified and a transition period is put in place, there would still be a massive amount of regulations to work through. The trade bodies fear that even a transition period of several years might not be sufficient because on the intricate nature of aerospace regulation and the industry’s supply chains".
Which nation would put one of its vital industries at such a risk? The letter says it's not just the UK that would be affected, the impact of these "irreversible decisions" will be felt across the whole of Europe and beyond.
One can imagine the EU will do whatever is needed to protect itself but nothing to help the UK and I would put money on Airbus already planning to build wings in France. Nothing else is logical.
