Jacques Barrot, Vice-President of the Commission in charge for Transports, warmly welcomes the draft aviation agreement reached today by negotiators for the European Union and the United States of America.
''I am delighted with the progress that has been made this week by the European and American negotiating teams. We have an opportunity to unlock major benefits on both sides of the Atlantic - it could be worth up to EUR 12 billion in economic benefits and up to new 80.000 jobs”, he added.
Following the launch of negotiations at the 2003 Transatlantic Summit and a further 11 working sessions, the negotiators have attained today results that are unprecedented in international aviation since the Chicago Convention of December 1944. Building on the creation of the European internal market – a true success story for the European Union - solid foundations are now being laid for a revolution in the international aviation industry that will see it treated as a "normal" global industry. The first ever EU-US agreement would encompasses 60% of world traffic. It would be a concrete and substantial move towards closer transatlantic relations and a major contribution to the Lisbon Strategy.
Using the momentum created by the joint visit to Washington of the Transport Council President M. Tiefensee and Vice-President Barrot in early February, two rounds of negotiations were held on 6-9 February in Washington and 27 February-2 March in Brussels.
These rounds allowed negotiators to identify and agree upon substantial additional provisions that the European Delegation was seeking to complete the preliminary November 2005 Agreement. The absence of a reform in the ownership and control regime in the United States, sought after by the European Union in November 2005 in order to provide access to the US domestic market for EU airlines, had left the Transport Council greatly disappointed. The Council had instructed the Commission to enter into urgent consultations with the US to seek elements that could be used to restore a proper balance of interests.