The EU regulation establishing common rules for civil
aviation security has been in force for almost two years.
The regulation requires the authority to put in place a
quality control system of which an important part is the
inspection of security procedures carried out by various
parties. Quality control by the authority is designed to
ensure that the regulation is implemented and applied and
to see whether its provisions are effective enough. The
second round of inspections currently taking place is already
revealing that various organisations are making changes
in their activities to improve security.
It has become highly obvious from the inspections of member
states by the EU commission that the states are applying
the security regulation in very different ways. This is
evident in the various ways of dealing with passengers.
In order to achieve a consistent level of security in the
EU area it has been seen necessary to supplement the main
regulation with other regulations for implementing it and
to harmonise working procedures.
A major project of the security committee assisting the
commission during 2004 has been the harmonisation of air
freight activities, in which work Finland has been actively
involved. The work will be completed at the beginning of
2005 and the effects of this harmonisation will be visible
in the near future in the form of smoother movement of air
cargo.
