For example, CAA has created the necessary capacity for the UK to fulfil state of design responsibilities, independently of EASA, if necessary. On 7 March, the UK government confirmed that it would withdraw from THE AESA on 31 December, prompting serious concerns in the aviation industry about the disruption this could cause. It argued that EASA membership was incompatible with the independent status of the United Kingdom, although other third countries, including Switzerland, remained long-standing members of the Agency. In order to assist organizations in their own planning, we have listed the assumptions we used to develop our approach to the possible scenario of no aviation safety agreements at the end of the transition period. Our use of these assumptions does not mean that the CAA considers this outcome likely; They allow us, as a responsible regulator, to prepare for all possible eventualities. If this scenario were to happen, we assumed it: a year ago these were vital issues, but today the need for an agreement is even more urgent. Less than 100 days before the end of the transition period and manufacturers` resistance has been seriously threatened by the pandemic. We already see large redundancies across the sector as a consequence of the crisis. Areas such as traffic rights, ownership and control, VAT and customs duties, as well as future relations with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which oversees the European Common Aviation Area (EASA), must all be decided well before 31 December 2020. The EU was part of horizontal agreements with 17 other non-ITA countries, including the US and Canada.
These cover areas such as airline access rights, passenger rights and investments. The «fallback» option is to create a separate agreement with each EU member state, which, according to one position, «would be a very complex and tedious exercise». The recurrence of old air agreements, which were once part of the Chicago Convention, would give only the first five air freedoms and still leave the license to pilots and aircraft parts.
