At 15:45 08 November 2018,
wrote:
The regulation is now in force:=20

REGULATION (EU) 2018/1139 OF THE EUROPEAN
PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of
=
4 July 2018 on common rules in the field of civil aviation
and
establishing=
a European Union Aviation Safety Agency
[...]
Article 2 Scope
[...]
8. A Member State may decide to exempt from this
Regulation the design,
pro=
duction, maintenance and operation activities in respect of
one or more of
=
the following categories of aircraft:
(a) aeroplanes, other than unmanned aeroplanes, which
have no more than
two=
seats, measurable stall speed or minimum steady flight
speed in landing
co=
nfiguration not exceeding 45 knots calibrated air speed and
a maximum
take-=
off mass (MTOM), as recorded by the Member State, of no
more than 600 kg
fo=
r aeroplanes not intended to be operated on water or 650
kg for aeroplanes
=
intended to be operated on water;
(b) helicopters, other than unmanned helicopters, which
have no more than
t=
wo seats and a MTOM, as recorded by the Member State,
of no more than 600
k=
g for helicopters not intended to be operated on water or
650 kg for
helico=
pters intended to be operated on water;
(c) sailplanes, other than unmanned sailplanes, and
powered sailplanes,
oth=
er than unmanned powered sailplanes, which have no more
than two seats and
=
a MTOM, as recorded by the Member State, of no more
than 600 kg.


This means indeed that there no longer will be a single
definition for
micr=
olights in Europe. As microlights approved in one country
need a separate
a=
uthorization to fly in every foreign country, this can mean
trouble if
your=
microlight doesn't conform to the foreign nation limits.=20

Germany has notified the European Union that it will apply
these exemption
=
rules to their full extent.

The French aeronautical authority has agreed with the
microlight community
=
to implement an exemption for airplanes and helicopters
with MTOM 500 kg,
5=
25 kg with global parachute rescue system, 545 kg with
floats + parachute,
=
AND minimum steady flight speed in landing configuration
not exceeding 35
k=
nots. For 2-axis microlights (deltas with engine), the limits
will remain
3=
00 kg MTOM for a single seater and 450 kg for a two-
seater. No exemption
an=
nounced for sailplanes.

This could mean that a future German 600 kg microlight
would be banned
from=
flying in France...=20

If sanity prevails and the French authorities decide that the
French
limits=
don't apply to a German registered microlight, this could
mean that
French=
pilots wanting a 600 kg microlight will have to register it in
Germany.=20

This is exactly the sort of thing that one expects with
"European Harmonisation". If you think it looks a mess try
re-registering a German glider trailer as a French one. Two
countries with a common border, 40+ years to get systems
harmonised, in reality a bureaucratic mess!