A comprehensive air transport agreement between the European Commission (EC) and 10 East European states has been drafted and could take effect early next year.
Frederik Sorensen, head of airline policy at the EC's transport directorate, says that the accord will create "a complete integration" of the countries into the single European air market, giving their carriers equal status, including rights in areas such as cabotage services and airline ownership.
The agreement covers Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, not all of which will be in the next wave of countries joining the European Union (EU)proper.
EU members gave the EC a mandate to negotiate the accord in 1996, but the process received a major boost after last September's meetings of EU and East European transport ministers.
The EC's draft agreement will be submitted to the eastern states "in the coming weeks" with detailed discussions to follow, says Sorensen. The agreement would create a single air market embracing the 15 EU member states, 10 East European countries and European Economic Area members Norway and Iceland. Switzerland has also been pushing for years to join the single air market.
Source: Flight International
