Why Governance
For ECCAIRS 2, governance ensures that the platform delivers on its objectives: improving aviation safety, enabling Authorities to meet ICAO and EU obligations, and safeguarding trust among stakeholders. Sound governance not only drives continuous improvement but also guarantees transparency, accountability, and ethical use of public resources. This is especially important given that ECCAIRS 2 is funded through European public money, and provides a harmonised, common playing field for all Competent Authorities.
Governance Structure
ECCAIRS 2 governance is organised at two levels:
- Strategic Governance – The ECCAIRS Steering Committee (ESC)
The ESC assembles annually and brings together all participating Authorities and stakeholders, including ICAO representatives. It sets the overall direction of the programme, validates priorities presented by the ESB, and facilitates meeting ICAO Annex 13 and Annex 19 obligations, as well as EU regulations. - Operational Governance – The ECCAIRS Steering Board (ESB)
To ensure continuity between annual ESC meetings, the ESB provides operational oversight. It comprises six to nine elected representatives from EU authorities, as well a one representative from ENCASIA – the European Network of Civil Aviation Safety Investigation Authorities. The ESB is jointly chaired by the European Commission and EASA. The ESB oversees programme progress, assesses the need for developments such as taxonomy updates, coordinates planning, and infrastructure evolution, sets priorities, and ensures that the needs of Authorities are addressed in a balanced way. Its proposals are subsequently submitted to the ESC for endorsement.
Together, the ESC and ESB create a governance framework that combines inclusiveness with efficiency: all Authorities can express their needs through the ESC, while the ESB ensures operational continuity, follow-up, and decision-making between annual assemblies.
This layered governance model has proven essential to the success of ECCAIRS 2, ensuring the programme remains sustainable, transparent, and aligned with both international obligations and the expectations of its European stakeholders.
ECCAIRS 2 Implementation
ECCAIRS 2 is a cloud based SaaS application tool to assist authorities in collecting, sharing, and analysing their safety aviation information.
ECCAIRS 2 is a programme developed and operated by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, an Agency of the European Union.
ECCAIRS 2 is developed around the ICAO's ADREP taxonomy and the Safety Recommendation's (SRIS) taxonomy.
ECCAIRS 2 is the one-stop-shop for all safety aviation reporting, including the European Central Repository (ECR), whose direct access is only permitted to the civil aviation authorities of the EU/EASA Member States, EASA and the Commission.
