Controls in the case of the EU civil aviation safety rules

Abstract

The European Aviation Safety Agency has been given various regulatory and enforcement tasks. This chapter analyses controls over specific outputs by EASA – soft law and airworthiness directives – and discusses a new oversight support mechanism. It argues that when de facto or de jure legally binding decisions face limits of judicial controls due to the nature of such decisions or judicial deference, ex ante controls, transparency requirements and political accountability seem essential and could be seen as mitigating for the challenges of judicial control.