fifty30retard
Forgiven
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2005
- Posts
- 312
Lucrative US Domestic market? Huh?
AP
EU Officials Push on 'Open-Skies' Agreement
Thursday October 6, 12:41 pm ET
By Constant Brand, Associated Press Writer
European Union Officials to Push for More U.S. Access for Europe's Airlines
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- European Union transport ministers agreed Thursday to push ahead with talks to get a so-called "open-skies" agreement with the United States, aiming to secure access for European airlines to the lucrative U.S. domestic market.
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EU Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot, speaking to reporters after EU transportation talks in Luxembourg, said he would make contact with U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta to forge ahead with the difficult talks. Formal discussions have been stalled since last year.
British Transport Secretary Alistair Darling, whose country holds the EU presidency, said informal talks over the past weeks between EU and U.S. officials had yielded results and would now lead to a restart of formal negotiations.
"These talks have been encouraging, and we recognized that while there could be no guarantee at all of success, we supported the (European) Commission in resuming formal negotiations with the United States," Darling told reporters. "We judge that the conditions were now in place to make progress toward an agreement."
The EU has been seeking to negotiate an open-skies agreement with the United States since 2003, but it has been stalled on a European request for its carriers to be allowed to operate on domestic U.S. routes. The talks deadlocked because EU carriers were not granted access to the U.S. domestic market, while U.S. carriers could, in principle, fly between European cities in different countries.
"We are starting off with a situation which is very much in balance in favor of the United States. The existing agreements are to the detriment of European transport companies, which don't enjoy the same benefits," said Barrot.
The EU head office is trying to get a new deal after the EU's Court of Justice ruled in 2002 that treaties many EU member states have with the U.S. are illegal under EU law because they grant U.S. landing rights only to domestic carriers of the European country that signed it.
That means, for example, that Air France can fly to the United States from Paris, but Germany's Lufthansa cannot. The court said that was discriminatory under the EU's single market rules.
In subsequent talks with the European Commission, Washington agreed to lift restrictions on trans-Atlantic landing rights for airlines and reduce curbs on foreign ownership of U.S. airlines. Another open issue is whether European carriers that merge, like Air France-KLM, can continue to use all their landing rights in the U.S.
At the same talks in Luxembourg, the EU ministers signed an Open Skies deal with Chile. The head office has negotiated 16 other similar accords with countries like Croatia, Ukraine, Morocco, Lebanon, Singapore and Australia.
AP
EU Officials Push on 'Open-Skies' Agreement
Thursday October 6, 12:41 pm ET
By Constant Brand, Associated Press Writer
European Union Officials to Push for More U.S. Access for Europe's Airlines
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- European Union transport ministers agreed Thursday to push ahead with talks to get a so-called "open-skies" agreement with the United States, aiming to secure access for European airlines to the lucrative U.S. domestic market.
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British Transport Secretary Alistair Darling, whose country holds the EU presidency, said informal talks over the past weeks between EU and U.S. officials had yielded results and would now lead to a restart of formal negotiations.
"These talks have been encouraging, and we recognized that while there could be no guarantee at all of success, we supported the (European) Commission in resuming formal negotiations with the United States," Darling told reporters. "We judge that the conditions were now in place to make progress toward an agreement."
The EU has been seeking to negotiate an open-skies agreement with the United States since 2003, but it has been stalled on a European request for its carriers to be allowed to operate on domestic U.S. routes. The talks deadlocked because EU carriers were not granted access to the U.S. domestic market, while U.S. carriers could, in principle, fly between European cities in different countries.
"We are starting off with a situation which is very much in balance in favor of the United States. The existing agreements are to the detriment of European transport companies, which don't enjoy the same benefits," said Barrot.
The EU head office is trying to get a new deal after the EU's Court of Justice ruled in 2002 that treaties many EU member states have with the U.S. are illegal under EU law because they grant U.S. landing rights only to domestic carriers of the European country that signed it.
That means, for example, that Air France can fly to the United States from Paris, but Germany's Lufthansa cannot. The court said that was discriminatory under the EU's single market rules.
In subsequent talks with the European Commission, Washington agreed to lift restrictions on trans-Atlantic landing rights for airlines and reduce curbs on foreign ownership of U.S. airlines. Another open issue is whether European carriers that merge, like Air France-KLM, can continue to use all their landing rights in the U.S.
At the same talks in Luxembourg, the EU ministers signed an Open Skies deal with Chile. The head office has negotiated 16 other similar accords with countries like Croatia, Ukraine, Morocco, Lebanon, Singapore and Australia.
