My Lords, to start with, I apologise to the noble Lord, Lord Tunnicliffe, as we are more than happy engage in discussions with interested parties. Before I had this job, I was Aviation Minister and had regular meetings with all the concerned parties in the industry, and my noble friend Lady Sugg has told me she is very happy to continue those discussions. I am sorry if I did not make that clear to him earlier. We are of course carefully considering all the potential implications arising from the UK’s exit from the EU, including the implications for the UK’s future relationship with the European Aviation Safety Agency and the Single European Sky agreement. I thank the noble Lords, Lord Berkeley and Lord Adonis—surprisingly, I see that the latter is not in his place—for their amendment.
Midnight
Aviation is crucial to the UK’s economy. The UK has the largest aviation network in Europe and the third largest in the world. I say directly in reply to my noble friend Lord Balfe that in her speech at Mansion House on Friday 2 March, the Prime Minister confirmed the Government’s ambition to see continued participation in the EASA system. There are provisions in EU legislation that allow non-EU countries to participate in the EASA system, as Norway, Switzerland and Iceland currently do. The Prime Minister also acknowledged that an appropriate financial contribution would be necessary and that there will be a role for the Court of Justice of the European Union. Again, I am signing up my noble friend Lady Sugg for a lot of work, but she is happy to keep my noble friend, BALPA, other stakeholders and noble Lords fully updated on the progress of negotiations.
The UK has been and is influential within EASA. UK expertise has contributed significantly to the high standards of aviation safety in Europe. The harmonised aviation safety regime has raised standards across Europe, as the noble Lord, Lord Tunnicliffe, has pointed out: facilitated the development of integrated cross-border supply chains and supported the growth of the European aerospace industry. The UK’s continued participation in the EASA system is beneficial not just for us but for the rest of the EU. The UK, with the second largest aerospace sector in the world, supplies vital components to aerospace exporters within the EU, and EASA itself benefits from the UK’s expertise and technical input, with roughly 40% of the expertise in the EASA system coming from the UK. The UK is committed to maintaining high standards of aviation safety, and the Government want to avoid disrupting trade or imposing additional regulatory burdens on industry in the UK or the EU. The precise form and nature of the UK’s future relationship—