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The mission of the Agency is to assist the Community in:

establishing and maintaining a high, uniform level of civil aviation safety and environmental protection in Europe;
facilitating the free movement of goods, persons and services;
promoting cost efficiency in the regulatory and certification processes;
assisting Member States in fulfilling their ICAO obligations on a common basis;
promoting world-wide Community views regarding civil aviation safety standards.
The agency will develop its know-how in all the fields of civil aviation safety in order to assist the Community Institutions in the development of legislation and implementing rules related to the safety supervision of aeronautical products, as well as of organisations and personnel involved in their operation and of any other related area.

As a first step, however, the Regulation establishes only the basis for Community action in relation to the certification of aeronautical products and of organisations and personnel involved in their design, production or maintenance. The Commission assisted by the Agency will progressively propose the necessary amendments of the Regulation to extend its scope to all other domains of civil aviation safety.

The Agency is also given powers to manage itself, certain executive tasks, where collective action would be more effective than individual action by Member States; it shall in particular issue type certificates for aeronautical products. It will assist the Commission in the monitoring of the application of common rules as well as in the implementation of the necessary safeguard measures. It will also provide its technical assistance in contacts and negotiations with the aeronautical authorities of third countries and international organisations competent for civil aviation safety and environmental protection. Finally, it will be able to assist the Community and its Member States with their co-operation and assistance activities with third countries.

In order to be sure that decisions on safety issues are free from all political interference, decisions must be in the hands of a neutral and independent decision-maker invested with the necessary powers. This is why the safety decisions of the agency will be taken by its Executive Director, under the control of an independent Board of Appeal, whose role is to check that the Executive Director has correctly applied the regulation and rules taken by the Commission for its implementation. The Executive Director is appointed by the agency's Management Board. This Board, which brings together representatives of the Member States and the Commission, is responsible, under the Commission's control, for the definition of priorities, the establishment of the budget and for monitoring the agency's operation.

Safety does not end at the Community's borders. Beyond them, it is the Community's duty to associate as many European partners as possible with our system. The Regulation permits the association of all the countries linked to the Community by agreements under which they adopt and apply Community legislation in the air transport area.