27.12.2005 Official Journal of the European Union L 344/15 REGULATION (EC) No 2111/2005 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 14 December 2005 on the establishment of a Community list of air carriers subject to an operating ban within the Community and on informing air transport passengers of the identity of the operating air carrier, and repealing Article 9 of Directive 2004/36/EC (Text with EEA relevance) THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EURO- PEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Commu- nity, and in particular Article 80(2) thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (1), After consulting the Committee of the Regions, Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty (%), Whereas: (1)  Action by the Community in the field of air transport should aim, as a priority, at ensuring a high level of pro- tection for passengers from safety risks. Moreover, full account should be taken of the requirements of consumer protection in general. (2) A Community list of air carriers that do not meet relevant safety requirements should be brought to the notice of pas- sengers so as to ensure the utmost transparency. This Community list should be based on common criteria drawn up at Community level. (3)  Air carriers included in the Community list should be sub- ject to an operating ban. The operating bans included in the Community list should apply throughout the territory of the Member States to which the Treaty applies. (4)  Air carriers that do not enjoy traffic rights in one or more of the Member States may nonetheless fly to and from the Community when their aircraft, with or without crew, are leased by companies that do enjoy such rights. Provision should be made for an operating ban included in the Com- munity list to apply equally to such air carriers, since these air carriers could otherwise operate in the Community while not complying with the relevant safety standards. (5)  An air carrier which is subject to an operating ban could be permitted to exercise traffic rights by using wet-leased aircraft of an air carrier which is not subject to an operat- ing ban, provided that the relevant safety standards are complied with. (') Opinion of 28 September 2005 (not yet published in the Official Journal). (?) Opinion of the European Parliament of 16 November 2005 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and Council Decision of 5 Decem- ber 2005. (6)  The procedure for updating the Community list should allow for decisions to be taken swiftly, in order to provide adequate and up-to-date safety information to air passen- gers and to guarantee that air carriers that have remedied safety deficiencies are taken off the list as soon as possible. At the same time, the procedures should respect the air carrier’s rights of defence and should be without prejudice to international agreements and conventions to which the Member States or the Community are parties, in particular the 1944 Chicago Convention on International Civil Avia- tion. The implementing measures on matters of procedure, to be adopted by the Commission, should notably cater for these requirements. (7) ~ When an operating ban has been imposed on an air car- rier, appropriate action should be taken with a view to assisting that air carrier in remedying the deficiencies that gave rise to that ban. (8)  In exceptional cases, Member States should be allowed to take unilateral measures. In cases of urgency and when confronted with an unforeseen safety problem, Member States should have the possibility to impose immediately an operating ban in respect of their own territory. More- over, where the Commission has decided not to include an air carrier in the Community list, Member States should also be able to impose or maintain an operating ban in view of a safety problem which does not exist in the other Member States. Member States should make restrictive application of these possibilities, taking account of the Community interest and with a view to presenting a com- mon approach in respect of aviation safety. This should be without prejudice to Article 8 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 3922/91 of 16 December 1991 on the harmonisation of technical requirements and administrative procedures in the field of civil aviation (*) and to Article 10 of Regula- tion (EC) No 1592/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 July 2002 on common rules in the field of civil aviation and establishing a European Aviation Safety Agency (4). (®) OJL373,31.12.1991, p. 4. Regulation as last amended by Commis- sion Regulation (EC) No 2871/2000 (OJ L 333, 29.12.2000, p. 47). (*) OJ L 240, 7.9.2002, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 17012003 (O] L 243, 27.9.2003, p. 5).