Muşat & Asociaţii participated to the 21st Conference and General Meeting, organized by the Romanian Airport Association, one of the most significant events of this kind in the civil aviation sector.
The topics discussed during the event included strategic matters referring to the development of civil aviation in Romania, the design and development of airports, new technologies and equipments in the airport field, developing the airports of the future, services of aviation agents and the relationship with air carriers, airport safety and security, as well as competition among airports, attracting operators and the pressure exercised by price, the effects of airport tariffs on the development of air traffic and instruments to increase airport performance.
Paul Buta, Managing Associate Muşat & Asociaţii focused, in his intervention, on the legal risks entailed by the extension of airport infrastructure. Referring to the development of Romanian airports, Paul Buta specified that “there are various issues which might occur because they are regulated by generally applicable laws, instead of the specific laws relevant for the industry, such as: issues relating to project financing being qualified as State aid, the responsibility of designers in DBB (design-bid-build) type projects, all which could delay the extension process or could lead to the loss of potential financing, but also issues concerning the exchange of trade sensitive information among airports, which could fall under the applicability of competition laws”. At the same time, Paul Buta specified that the “aviation industry needs to pursue the implementation of specific legal regulations, without breaching the current Romanian and EU laws”.
The event, hosted by the Romanian Airport Association, having as members 15 civil airports in Romania, gathered together over 100 participants in the industry, representatives of the Ministry of Transport, the Division of Civil Aviation and Air Space, Romanian Civil Aviation Authority, Romanian Intelligence Service, General Inspectorate of Romanian Police and Border Police, representatives of ROMATSA, managers of the civil airports in Romania, representatives of the University Politehnica of Bucharest, as well as representatives of foreign private companies, among which the Honorary President of the British Airport Services and Equipment Association. The reputed speakers, who talked on various topics in the same session, included Rodica Cazanciuc (Regulatory Manager, Romanian Civil Aviation Authority), Andrei Filipoiu (Safety Manager, Romanian Civil Aviation Authority) and Daniel Idolu (General Manager, “Traian Vuia” International Airport of Timişoara).
Paul Buta, Managing Associate Muşat & Asociaţii, holds an expertise of more than eight years in dispute resolution & litigation, intellectual property and competition, having provided legal assistance to leading companies in a wide range of industries, such as media and audiovisual, pharma, IT and telecom, FMCG, banking & finance, auto, retail, but also to non-governmental organizations in Romania. Paul Buta is deputy editor in chief of the “Romanian Journal of Intellectual Property Law” magazine since 2004, a member of the “Board of Directors of the Scientific Association for Intellectual Property Law” since 2007 and a member of the Board of Directors of the “Romanian Association of Authors and Editors of Scientific Works – PERGAM” since 2009. He is a member of the Bucharest Bar Association and graduate of law and political sciences, being, since 2005, a faculty member of the “Nicolae Titulescu” University of Bucharest.