On February 25, 2015 the first EASA Management Board Meeting in 2015 was held in Cologne. The meeting was attended by the President of the Civil Aviation Authority Mr Piotr Ołowski and for the first time in the function of the Vice Chairman. The meeting also was attended by the Vice President of the CAA Mr Maciej Kozlowski, who is a Deputy Member of the Management Board.
Mr Patrick Ky - EASA Executive Director presented a report on the recent activities of the Agency. The report consisted issues on the involvement of EASA in SESAR, virtual academy, changes in the legislative process (placing greater emphasis on assessment of economic and financial regulation, implementation of the PBR and improvement the linguistic quality), Big Data Project, certification and the involvement of EASA in investigations of air accidents which occurred recently.
There were discussed the outcomes of the High Level Safety Conference (HLSC/2) which was held on 2-5 February 2015 at the headquarters of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in Montreal. In particular there was highlighted the Europe's contribution to the development of the positions expressed during the conference and the positive outcome of the efforts to improve air safety, including the flight paths tracking and risk assessment for conflict zones. The EASA Research Strategy has also been presented. According to the position of Agency the coordination of projects funded by the European Union in the field of safety shall be facilitated and more coordinated. One of the main points discussed at the meeting was the information on the proposed amendments to the Regulation 216/2008. As part of the consultation EASA received almost 6,000 comments. In the near future EASA will send the opinion the European Commission in this regard.
Mr Piotr Ołowski - President of the Civil Aviation Authority raised the issue of hazards due to aiming a laser beam into cockpits of the aircraft and distracting or even blinding the pilots. This events may cause a threat to civil aviation safety. Mr President claimed that the criminal provisions are inadequate, as the main cause of these incidents is the lack of awareness of the offenders. Therefore it is necessary to carry out the information campaign with help with the media, which could enable the reach to the widest possible audience.
The Board made a decision on the budget, employment plan for 2016, as well as the long-term employment plan for the period 2016-2018.
