Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

"Iris Oifigiúil" of 29th May, 2012.

I, LEO VARADKAR, Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act 1972 (No. 27 of 1972) and for the purposes of giving the force of law to the Multilateral Agreement on the establishment of a European Common Aviation Area done at Luxembourg on 9 June 2006¹ , hereby make the following regulations:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Union (European Common Aviation Area) Regulations 2012.

2. In these Regulations, "Agreement" means the Multilateral Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, the Republic of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Bulgaria, the Republic of Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the Republic of Iceland, the Republic of Montenegro, the Kingdom of Norway, Romania, the Republic of Serbia and the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo on the Establishment of a European Common Aviation Area done at Luxembourg on 9 June 2006, the signing of which by the Community was approved by the Council in Council Decision 2006/682/EC² .

3. From the coming into force of the Agreement, the provisions of the Agreement and the acts to be adopted by the institution established by the Agreement which, pursuant to the treaties governing the European Union, will be binding on the State and an integral part of the legal order of the Union, shall have the force of law in the State on the conditions laid down in those treaties and in the Agreement.

4. The acts specified in Annex 1 to the Agreement shall be read as those acts as amended, repealed or supplemented.

5. In any regulations made under section 3 of the Act of 1972, and in any enactment, or instrument made under an enactment, any reference to the Member States of the European Union or to any person who is affected by the treaties governing the European Union shall, in so far as may be necessary to give effect to the obligations of the State pursuant to the Agreement, be construed as including a reference to the Contracting Parties to the Agreement and to any person who is affected by the Agreement.

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

24 May 2012.

LEO VARADKAR,

Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations and does not purport to be a legal interpretation)

The purpose of these Regulations is to bring the provisions of the ECAA Agreement between the European Union and its Member States and the Western Balkans, signed in June 2006, into Irish law and to provide for ratification of the Agreement.

1 OJ No. L 285, 16.10.2006, p. 3

2 OJ No. L 285, 16.10.2006, p. 1