The objective of this Decision is to mitigate the safety risks identified for commercial air transport (CAT) operations at night or in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) using single-engined turbine (SET) aeroplanes, taking into account the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs), with a view to establishing a level playing field among CAT SET-IMC European Union (EU) operators. The Decision introduces acceptable means of compliance (AMC) and guidance material (GM) for CAT SET-IMC operations. Those AMC/GM were developed taking into consideration the current industry best practices, the comments received during the public consultation of Notice of Proposed Amendment (NPA) 2014-18, as well as the outcome of a focused consultation held with national aviation authorities (NAAs) on 16 June 2015. The amendments are expected to maintain safety and ensure alignment with ICAO

This Decision addresses safety, economic and regulatory coordination issues related to the provision of data to airspace users for the purpose of safety-critical air navigation. Acknowledging the importance of correct data and information being fed into the airborne system and highlighting that the lack of such correct data could lead to significant safety risks for a flight, the specific objectives are to: — ensure that the aeronautical data and information for use on certified aircraft systems are processed in a way that guarantees their quality and meets the requirements set by the aircraft manufacturers for the airspace endusers’ intended use; — provide cost-efficient rules in the field of air navigation and aircraft operation by avoiding double oversight of the data services by the competent authority and by the operators contracting their services; and — ensure that the Single European Sky (SES) objectives on interoperability with respect to data used on aircraft systems are achieved. The changes are expected to support the implementation of performance-based navigation (PBN) throughout the European Union and provide for cost-effectiveness through the reduction of regulatory burden on aircraft operators and on the competent authorities performing their oversight at national level. The changes will apply from 2019, and the amendments to the associated acceptable means of compliance (AMC) and guidance material (GM) to Commission Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 as regards the management of aeronautical databases (discharging aircraft operators from their data suppliers auditing obligation) will be issued through a separate Decision. However, Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/373 laying down common requirements for providers of air traffic management (ATM)/air navigation services (ANS) and other ATM network functions and their oversight allows data services (DAT) providers, on a voluntary basis, to apply for, and be granted, the relevant certificates immediately upon the entry into force of said Regulation. Thus, this Decision is providing operators the possibility to also use certified DAT providers before the applicability date of the new provisions.