Aviation security refers to the prevention of acts of unlawful interference against civil aviation, such as seizure of an aircraft or placing a hazardous device on board an aircraft. Since 2002, the European Commission has established common rules in the field of civil aviation security aimed at protecting persons and goods from unlawful interference with civil aircraft.
JRC applies its long-standing expertise in reliable measurements and testing to help Commission and Member States implement EU aviation security legislation. For instance, JRC provides harmonised test kits to aviation security inspectors so they can verify that detection equipment in airports continues to perform at a high level during operations.
To date, the JRC’s test kits and hands-on training sessions have been made available to the Commission’s aviation security inspectors, the national inspectors of the 27 EU Member States, the EFTA surveillance authorities, non-EU Members of the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC), and manufacturers of ETD equipment. A project is currently under way to make the ETD test kit available to all civil aviation airports in the EU. By harmonising testing practices and helping to increase confidence in security equipment, the JRC’s test kits are a de facto standard across the EU.
At the JRC’s laboratories in Geel, Belgium, experimental facilities are used to perform research on security-threat detection equipment. In our analytical laboratories, JRC conducts research for safe and innovative production of test materials, and key processes are accredited under ISO 17025.
