The EU Commission has postponed their vote on the EASA's proposed aviation regulations that would have significantly impacted FAA certificated pilots and owners of N-number (US) registered airplanes in Europe. The vote was scheduled to take place on October 13 or 14th and is described in detail in this previous article.
The EU Commission is not planning to consider the proposal for a vote again until December, which will allow for added time for general aviation businesses, pilots and other aviation interests to make their opposition known.
The AOPA and IAOPA have been very active in opposing the regulations which would essentially restrict the majority of US certificated pilots from being able to fly in EU countries. The costs and extra training would place European flying out of the reach of most non-EU certificated pilots.
According to an AvWeb report on the initial meeting, the meeting was closed to the public and no transcripts or minutes are available for review. However, AvWeb also reported from an interview with Jan Brill, editor of Pilot und Flugzeug Magazine, in which Jan implied that 'indications are that the conciliation committee favors a softer stance on the issue of so-called "third country aircraft" and that the issue won't be resolved any time soon. The EASA proposal would have required pilots currently flying on FAA IFR tickets to pass the ATP-style instrument ratings in force in Europe. Aviation groups in Europe almost universally panned the proposals, saying they would have devastated GA there.'
This is still a proposal to watch for any US pilot planning to fly in Europe or flight schools in the US that deal with European student pilot as a positive vote in support of the proposals as presented would have a direct impact on their plans and business.
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