
Article 1 
The signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation between the International Civil Aviation Organisation and the European Community regarding security audits/inspections and related matters is hereby approved on behalf of the Community, subject to the Council Decision concerning the conclusion of the said Memorandum.
The text of the Memorandum is attached to this Decision.
Article 2 
The President of the Council is hereby authorised to designate the person(s) empowered to sign the Memorandum on behalf of the Community subject to its conclusion.
Article 3 
Subject to reciprocity, the Memorandum shall be applied on a provisional basis as from the signature thereof, pending the completion of the procedures for its formal conclusion.
Done at Brussels, 24 July 2008.
For the Council
The President
B. HORTEFEUX
1.  1.1. Those Standards contained in Annex 17 that are not covered by EC legislation shall fall outside the scope of this Memorandum of Cooperation.
 1.2. Regarding Standards contained in Annex 17 which are covered by EC legislation, ICAO shall assess the European Commission inspections of the national appropriate authorities of EU Member States in order to verify compliance with these Standards in accordance with paragraph 3 of this Memorandum of Cooperation, of Contracting States bound by Community legislation on civil aviation security.
 1.3. The implementation of ICAO assessments in the European Community shall be discussed at the request of one of the Parties, but at least once a year.
 1.4. ICAO auditors may occasionally join the European Commission inspections of EU airports as observers, after an explicit agreement of the EU Member State concerned has been received by the European Commission.

2.  2.1. In accordance with Decision 2001/844/EC, ECSC, Euratom, the following EU classified information at level of ‘RESTREINT UE’ shall be provided to ICAO authorised personnel:

A.. Common rules and standards in the field of aviation security, adopted in accordance with Article 4(2) of Regulation (EC) No 2320/2002 or Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 300/2008; and
B.. As regards European Commission inspections of appropriate authorities of the EU Member States:

((a)) general information on the planning of European Commission inspections including the schedule of inspections of national appropriate authorities, and any amendment thereof or changes thereto, as soon as they become available;
((b)) the status of inspection activities of both national appropriate authorities and airports, dates of issuance of the final inspection reports and dates of reception of the action plans from the State concerned;
((c)) the European Commission inspection methodology;
((d)) the report of the inspection of the national appropriate authorities together with the action plan received from the State concerned on the inspection of the national appropriate authority, specifying actions and deadlines to remedy any identified deficiencies; and
((e)) follow-up actions taken by the European Commission on the inspection of the national appropriate authority.
 2.2. ICAO shall restrict access to EU classified information provided by the European Commission in the context of this cooperation to authorised personnel on a need to know basis only. The authorised personnel shall not disclose this information to any third party. ICAO shall implement any necessary legal and internal mechanisms to protect the confidentiality of the information provided by the European Commission.
 2.3. The European Commission and ICAO shall agree on further procedures for the protection of classified information provided by the European Commission pursuant to this Memorandum of Cooperation. Such procedures shall include the possibility for the European Commission to verify which protection measures have been put in place by ICAO.

3.  3.1. ICAO assessments of the European Commission aviation security inspection system shall consist of an analysis of European Commission requirements and information provided under paragraph 2. Where necessary, ICAO shall visit the European Commission, Directorate-General for Energy and Transport, at its Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.
 3.2. Specific terms of reference and practical arrangements for ICAO assessments of the European Commission aviation security inspection system shall be agreed upon through an Exchange of Letters between ICAO and the European Commission.

4.  4.1. Any difference or dispute concerning the interpretation or the application of this Memorandum of Cooperation shall be resolved by negotiation between the Parties.
 4.2. Nothing in or relating to this Memorandum of Cooperation shall be deemed a waiver of any of the privileges and immunities of the Parties.

5.  5.1. This Memorandum of Cooperation does not supersede or prejudge other forms of cooperation between the Parties.

6.  6.1. The parties shall review the implementation of this Memorandum of Cooperation at the end of the current phase of the USAP programme, and earlier, if felt necessary by either of the Parties.
 6.2. Pending its entry into force, this Memorandum of Cooperation shall be applied provisionally from the date of signature.
 6.3. This Memorandum of Cooperation shall enter into force on the first day of the second month following the last of the two notifications through which the Parties inform each other of the termination of their respective internal procedures.

Done at Montreal on the seventeenth day of September in the year two thousand and eight, in duplicate, in the English language.
For the European Community

Patrick GANDIL

Eckard SEEBOHM
For the International Civil Aviation Organisation

Roberto KOBEH GONZÁLEZ