The UK's transport select committee chairman has warned that the transfer of power to the EU could compromise safety. The Hon Gwyneth Dunwoody MP, spoke at the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport.

"It [aviation] is an industry both constantly expanding while teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. As the EU grows ever larger it speaks with many voices, seeks to impose solutions from the top down and yet is sufficiently inflexible to allow practical solutions on the ground to differ from one country to another," she said.

One example she highlighted is the creation of the European Aviation Safety Agency.

EASA was set up in 2003 as an independent EU agency that would succeed the Joint Aviation Authorities, a voluntary body that existed to coordinate safety regulation across Europe.

Dunwoody claimed the CAA believes that EASA is experiencing difficulties setting up and operating in a satisfactory way because it is understaffed and under-resourced; it employs 160 people.

Consequently things are taking longer to complete. She said:

"There are concerns that safety regulation is being compromised and improvements slowed down, and that the standards of aviation will be diluted to meet the average of all European National Supervisory Authorities."