News Release
Loyola de Palacio
No. 116/04
July 20, 2004
EU COMMISSION TAKES ACTION TO ENFORCE “OPEN SKIES” COURT RULINGS
The Commission today took further action to tackle the
discriminatory bilateral aviation agreements signed by Member States. By reserving
traffic rights for national carriers, these agreements prevent free competition
in the provision of international air transport between the European Union and
the United States, to the detriment of the airline industry and consumers. Vice
President Loyola de Palacio said, “It is over one-and-a-half years since the European
Court of Justice ruled that the discrimination between EU airlines embodied in
the Member States’ bilateral agreements with the US is contrary to EU law, yet
that discrimination still remains in place. Member States must take the necessary
measures to comply with the Court rulings. It is unacceptable that Member States
continue to be party to agreements that deny consumers and airlines the benefits
of the European Single Market more than one and a half years after the Court judgements.
Moreover Member States which do not have 'open skies' agreements should not now
negotiate on their own such agreements with the US.”
The Commission is now actively engaged in
negotiations with the US to develop a new legal framework for transatlantic
air transport. These negotiations will offer a solution to the legal problem.
The US has made it clear that it is prepared to engage constructively with the
EU as a whole and to treat all EU airlines equally.
Follow-up action to the Open Skies Court judgment:
The Commission decided to issue a letter of formal notice under Article 228 of
the Treaty against eight
Member States – Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Luxembourg, Sweden
and the United Kingdom – over their failure to comply with the judgments of the
European Court of Justice issued against them on 5
November 2002 in the so-called “open skies” cases.
In these judgments, the Court found that the Member States had infringed Community
law by reserving traffic rights for their own national airlines in their air transport
agreements with the United States. As of today, Member States have taken no action
to remedy the problems identified by the Court.
The Commission also decided to bring a case before the Court under Article 226
of the Treaty against the Netherlands over its “open skies” agreement with the
US. This agreement includes the same discriminatory language that appears in the
agreements concluded by the eight Member States mentioned above.
In addition the Commission decided to initiate new proceedings under Article 226
against three Member States – France, Italy and Portugal – for failure to fulfill
their obligations under the Treaty as a result of their bilateral agreements with
the US, which also contain discriminatory language similar to that in other agreements.
In parallel, Mrs. de Palacio will address letters to all Member States to request
that they adopt a unified approach in their relations with the US that will support
the negotiation of a new EU-US accord.
She will remind the twenty Member States with bilateral agreements with the US
that, in line with the Commission’s decision of 19
November 2002, they should start procedures to terminate those agreements
in order to ensure that they comply with their obligations under Community law.
In a separate letter to the five Member States which have no bilateral agreement
with the US in the air transport field, Mrs. de Palacio will request that they
refrain from entering into negotiations and respect their obligations under Community
law.
It should be stressed that initiation of such procedures will have no direct and
immediate impact on airlines. Termination, as a general rule, requires at least
a twelve-month period of notice. The Commission intends to reach an EU-US agreement
before the end of this period.
Background
The Legal Situation
In response to the “Open Skies” Court rulings, on 19 November 2002 the Commission
requested Member States to undertake two actions in order to remedy the situation:
grant the Commission a mandate to open discussions with the US and remove the
legal problem identified by the Court by terminating their existing bilateral
agreements with the US.
The Transport
Council asked the Commission to open negotiations with the US on 5 June 2003.
So far, no Member State has activated the procedures for terminating their agreements.
The state of negotiations with the US
The Commission has now been negotiating with the US for twelve months on the creation
of a new transatlantic air transport agreement. Following several rounds of negotiations,
the basic framework of an agreement is in place including provisions that would
remedy the legal issues identified by the Court. Text has been agreed that would
bring the EU-US relationship into conformity with Community law by removing all
discrimination between EU airlines giving them equal opportunities to fly on any
transatlantic route between the EU and US.
However, the Transport Council of 10/11 June 2004 felt that this package was still
unacceptable. Many Member States feel that EU airlines should have more opportunities
to access the American domestic market. This will require detailed consideration
on both sides. Until that time, it was agreed at the last EU-US
summit on 25 June that negotiations on a technical level will resume in September
2004.
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Press Contacts:
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Anthony Gooch
202-862-9523
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Maeve O'Beirne
202-862-9549
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