4.7.2003 Official Journal of the European Union L 167/23 DIRECTIVE 2003/42/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 13 June 2003 on occurrence reporting in civil aviation THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE (9)  Supporting software for the exchange of information EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Com- munity, 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 (), Following consultation of the Committee of the Regions, Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty (°), in the light of the joint text approved by the Conciliation Committee on 9 April 2003, Whereas: (1) The rate of accidents in civil aviation has remained fairly constant in the last decade; nevertheless there is concern that the forecasted traffic increase could lead to an increase in the number of accidents in the near future. (2)  Council Directive 94/56/EC of 21 November 1994 establishing the fundamental principles governing the investigation of civil aviation accidents and incidents (%), aims at preventing accidents by facilitating the expedi- tious holding of investigations. (3)  Experience has shown that often before an accident occurs, a number of incidents and numerous other defi- ciencies have shown the existence of safety hazards. (4)  The improvement of the safety of civil aviation requires a better knowledge of these occurrences to facilitate analysis and trend monitoring in order to initiate correc- tive action. (5)  When an occurrence involves aircraft registered in a Member State or operated by an undertaking established in a Member State, this occurrence should be reported even when it happened outside the territory of the Community. (6)  Each Member State should set up mandatory reporting systems. (7)  Various categories of personnel working in civil aviation observe occurrences of interest for the prevention of accidents and should therefore report them. (8)  The efficiency of detection of potential hazard would be greatly enhanced by the exchange of information on such occurrences. (") OJ C 120 E, 24.4.2001, p. 148 and O] C 332 E, 27.11.2001, p. 320. () 0] C 311, 7.11.2001, p. 8. (*) Opinion of the European Parliament of 14 June 2001 (O] C 53 E, 28.2.2002, p. 324), Council Common Position of 17 June 2002 (O] C 197 E, 20.8.2002, p. 16) and Decision of the European Parlia- ment of 23 October 2002 (not yet published in the Official Journal). Decision of the European Parliament of 13 May 2003 and Decision of the Council of 13 May 2003. () OJ L 319, 12.12.1994, p. 14. between different systems is necessary. (10)  Safety information should be available to entities entrusted with regulating civil aviation safety or investi- gating accidents and incidents within the Community and, as appropriate, to the people who may learn from them and take or initiate the necessary action to improve safety. (11)  The sensitive nature of safety information is such that the way to ensure its collection is by guaranteeing its confidentiality, the protection of its source and the confi- dence of the personnel working in civil aviation. (12)  The public should be provided with general information on the level of aviation safety. (13)  Appropriate measures should be put in place to enable the setting up of confidential reporting schemes. (14)  The measures necessary for the implementation of this Directive should be adopted in accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission (°). (15)  Consistency should be ensured with the technical reporting requirements developed by national experts in Eurocontrol and the Joint Aviation Authorities Organisa- tion. The list of reportable occurrences should take into account the work of these two European organisations. Developments in the framework of the International Civil Aviation Organisation should also be taken into account. (16)  Since the objective of the proposed action, namely the improvement of air safety, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States because reporting systems operated by Member States in isolation are less efficient than a coordinated network with exchange of information enabling an earlier identification of possible safety problems, and can, therefore, be better achieved at Community level, the Community may adopt measures in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty. In accordance with the principle of proportionality as set out in that Article, this Directive does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve those objectives, () OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.