National and Regional Law: EU/EASA Regulations and State Rules
This domain tests how European law implements ICAO obligations and how national rules sit beneath it. Questions test which regulation covers which subject, what the Basic Regulation does, and how exemptions and third-country arrangements work.
The Basic Regulation
Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 repealed Regulation (EC) No 216/2008 and established the current framework. It sets essential requirements for airworthiness, environmental protection, aircrew, air operations, aerodromes, ATM/ANS and the safety of third-country operators, and it created EASA. The scope covers aircraft registered in a Member State or operated by an operator established in the Union, and products, parts and appliances. Member States may grant exemptions for aircraft not involved in commercial air transport, subject to conditions that preserve an adequate level of safety.
The implementing rules
Regulation (EU) No 748/2012: Part-21 design and production. Regulation (EU) No 1321/2014: continuing airworthiness, Part-M and Part-145. Regulation (EU) No 965/2012: air operations, Part-ORO, Part-CAT and Part-SPA. Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011: aircrew, Part-FCL and Part-MED. Regulation (EU) No 923/2012: the Standardised European Rules of the Air, SERA. Regulation (EU) 2019/947: unmanned aircraft.
National layer and third countries
National law such as the UK Air Navigation Order, the German LuftVO or the French Code de l'aviation civile adds local rules: airspace restrictions, prohibited zones, noise limits and penalties. A licence issued by a third country may be validated or converted; a non-EU operator must hold an authorisation and comply with the relevant third-country operating rules. EASA issues type certificates valid throughout the Union.
Worked example
An operator established in the EU leases an aircraft registered in a third country. Because the operator is established in the Union, the operation falls within the scope of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 and Regulation (EU) 965/2012; the aircraft must have an appropriate airworthiness arrangement accepted by EASA, and the crew must hold licences recognised under Part-FCL provisions on third-country licences. The third-country register does not exempt the operation from EU rules.
Traps
Regulation (EU) 923/2012 governs rules of the air, not licensing. The flexibility provisions of the Basic Regulation are limited and cannot dispense with essential requirements. National rules can be more restrictive locally, but not less restrictive where the Basic Regulation applies.