The European Commission has sent a formal letter of notice to four European countries warning them to cancel all bilateral air services agreements struck since November 2002.
The governments of Finland, Italy, Germany and Portugal received the "reasoned opinions" from the EC late last year, stating the countries had breached European competition rules by negotiating additional bilaterals since the ruling of 5 November 2002 that found nationality clauses illegal. The ruling gave the EC exclusive right to negotiate air transport deals with third countries, a ruling the EC now alleges these four states overlooked. About 2,000 existing air service agreements are thought to breach the terms of the ruling and are being revised to eliminate the nationality clause, a process that is being worked through slowly, but Finland, Germany, Italy and Portugal have entered new deals restricting EU ownership, the EC says.
The EC could issue similar formal warnings to all governments with open skies or bilateral air service agreements with the USA in an attempt to speed up talks on an EU-US deal, forcing a 12-month deadline clause in the original deals, but has always said it will refrain from antagonistic tactics.
Source: Flight International
