EU Air Transport Policy

8/9/2019 EU Air Transport Policy

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Flyng

together


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword by Jacques Barrot 1

I. Free as a brd: the snge market or ar transport 2

II. Spreadng ts wngs: the EUs externa avaton pocy 6

III. Cear skes ahead: normasng ar transport 12


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Over the ast 20 years there has been a revouton n the economc

and reguatory andscape o ar transport n Europe.

Ths s argey due to the creaton n the 1990s o a snge market oravaton n the European Unon. Ar transport used to be a hghy

reguated ndustry, domnated by natona lag carrers and state-

owned arports. The snge market removed a commerca

restrctons or arnes lyng wthn the EU, such as restrctons on

routes, the number o lghts and the settng o ares. Now a EU

arnes can operate ar servces on any route wthn the EU.

European pocy has transormed the ar transport ndustry by creatng

the condtons or compettveness and ensurng both quaty o

servce and the hghest eve o saety. Consumers, arnes, arports

and empoyees have a beneted rom new routes and arports,

greater choce, ower prces, and a better overa quaty o servce.

Wth more than 130 schedued arnes and a network o over 450

arports, ar transport aso makes a key contrbuton to the European

economy. It empoys more than 3 mon peope n the EU and

contrbutes more than EUR 120 bon to European GDP. Lnkng peo-

pe and regons, ar transpor t pays a vta roe n Europes ntegraton

and compettveness, as we as ts nteracton wth the word.

However, arnes st have ess commerca reedom when lyng

to countres outsde the EU, and passengers have ess choce.

Internatona avaton has tradtonay been governed by batera

agreements between ndvdua countres, restrctng the number o

arnes on the routes concerned, the number o lghts and the

possbe destnatons.

To overcome these mtatons, the EU s extendng ts avaton pocy

beyond ts borders. Frst, any batera agreements that are not n ne

wth the reedom o operaton dervng rom the snge market need

to be revsed to ensure ega certanty and to put a EU arnes on anequa ootng or lghts to countres outsde the EU. Second, the EU

s workng to estabsh by 2010 a common avaton area wth

neghbourng countres n the Medterranean and to the east. Thrd,

the EU s settng up open avaton areas wth other key nternatona

partners. Coser nternatona reatons w not ony open markets,

but aso aow the EU to ensure hgh standards o saety and securty

n nternatona ar transport and to work wth others more efectvey

to address the mpact o avaton on the envronment.

A ot st needs to be done to aow ar transport to u ts potenta.

The EU w pursue these ambtous goas hand n hand wth partners

around the word.

Jacques Barrot

Vice-President of the European Commission,

with responsibility for Transport

FOREWORD


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Beore 1987, avaton markets across Europe were protected and

ragmented but ths was to change. In order to create a snge

market or ar transport, the EU berased the sector n three stages.

The rst package o measures adopted n December 1987 started to

reax the estabshed rues. For ntra-EU trai c, t mted the rght o

governments to object to the ntroducton o new ares. It gave some

lexbty to arnes concernng seat capacty-sharng.

The second package n 1990 opened up the market urther, aowng

greater lexbty over the settng o ares and capacty-sharng.

It aso gave a EU carrers the rght to carry an unmted number o

passengers or cargo between ther home country and another EU

country.

The oowng stage o the berasaton o ar transport n the EU

was a thrd package o measures whch apped rom January 1993.

Ths package ntroduced the reedom to provde servces wthn the

EU and, n Apr 1997, the reedom to provde cabotage (the rght or

an arne o one EU Member State to operate a route wthn another

Member State). Ths snge market was subsequenty extended to

Norway, Iceand and Swtzerand.

The thrd package of ar transport lberalsaton provded for:

harmonsed requrements for an operatng cence for EU arnes;

open access for a EU arnes wth such an operatng cence to a routes wthn the EU, pus the possbty for natonagovernments to mpose pubc servce obgatons on routes essenta for regona deveopment;

fu freedom wth regard to fares and rates: arnes no onger requred to submt ther fares to the natona authortes

for approva.(

FREE AS A BIRD:THE SINGLEMARKET FOR AIR TRANSPORT


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Movng wth the tmes

The avaton market evoved wth the ntroducton o the thrd

package and, ater a decade and a ha, the tme has come to

modernse the ega ramework. In Juy 2006, the European

Commsson made a proposa to update and smpy the ega

ramework or the snge ar transport market. The proposa s

desgned to consodate the three exstng reguatons o the thrd

package nto one and to ensure an even more efectve avaton

market n the uture, as a rst stage towards the urther consodaton

o egsaton. Meanwhe, studes have been started wth a vew to

eaboratng a uy ledged European cv avaton code.

Beyond market openng, the snge market rests on strngent

common rues n order to both ensure a eve payng ed and

contnuousy mprove standards, notaby n saety and securty.

To ensure ar competton, the European Commsson appes

competton rues on mergers and aances, prce xng and other

arrangements to the ar transport sector, and state ad rues are

strcty enorced.

Safety and securty irst

One major benet o the EUs snge market s the hgh eve o saety

and securty n a aspects o ar transport. Statstcay, lyng s one

o the saest means o transport, and Europe has a strong saety

record. However, wth up to 30 000 lghts operatng n Europe on

the busest days and ar trai c urther ncreasng, EU pocymakers

are determned to ensure that the saety o lyng n Europe s

contnuousy enhanced.

The EU has harmonsed saety standards at a hgh eve. A European

Avaton Saety Agency (EASA) was estabshed n 2002. EASA,

headquartered n Coogne, Germany, asssts EU pocymakers n the

deveopment o common avaton saety rues. Today, natona

authortes contnue to carry out the majorty o operatona tasks.

However, the agency w graduay extend ts competences rom

arworthness certcaton to ar operatons, censng o lght crew,

saety o arports and ar navgaton servces.

Passengers need to be assured that a arcrat they board, whether

beongng to EU or oregn arnes, ofer hgh eves o saety. I there

s evdence that an arne s not abe to operate wth the mnmum

saety standards, the European Commsson can mpose bans and

operatona restrctons. The arnes consdered to be unsae are put

on a st, whch s pubshed on the European Commssons webste

and updated at east every three months.

Moreover, oowng the terrorst attacks on 11 September 2001, the


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Passenger rghts

The EU s a party to the Montrea Conventon and mpemented

ths nternatona treaty wth a reguaton on the abty o arnes

or death and njury n case o accdents and or baggage deays.

Furthermore, the EU adopted reguatons on compensaton and

assstance or passengers n the case o dened boardng, cancea-

tons or ong lght deays. Adequate assstance must be provded

to persons wth reduced mobty. And a passengers have the rght

to be propery normed on the exact dentty o the company whch

operates ther lght.

Towards greener ar travel

As or the envronment, ever more strngent measures are beng

mpemented on the maxmum amount o nose arcrat may

produce. In addton, acton s beng taken to hep avaton ght

cmate change. The mpact o avaton on cmate change s st

modest, but s growng ast. The European Commsson has thereore

proposed ncudng greenhouse gas emssons rom avaton n the

EU emssons tradng scheme, under whch arnes w have a

permanent ncentve to reduce ther cmate mpact. Ths s one

Takng socal ssues nto account

The snge market shoud ead to mproved workng condtons

wthn the ar transport sector. The European Commsson s

commtted to ensurng the appcaton o the reevant natona and

EU egsaton. In order to propery assess the stuaton and the

potenta needs, the Commsson s revewng the soca mpact o ar

transport berasaton.

Promotng access to arport servces

The successu berasaton o ar servces wthn the EU has been

ostered by measures to promote non-dscrmnatory access to

arport servces. Arports pay a vta roe n the urther deveopment

and compettveness o the snge avaton market. The market or

ground-handng servces has been graduay opened up to

competton snce 1996.

Arport sots are aocated on the bass o transparent and non-

dscrmnatory rues n case o congeston. In eary 2007, the European

Commsson presented an arport package, ncudng a proposa or a

drectve on arport charges and an acton pan on arport capacty.


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Sngle market, sngle sky

Ar trai c contro provdes the nrastructure or a sae and ei cent

low o ar trai c. Ar trai c management (ATM) has aways been

deveoped at natona eve, but such ragmentaton has ed to

nei cency. As part o the EUs avaton pocy, the snge European

sky an ambtous ntatve to reorm the archtecture o European

arspace to meet uture saety and capacty needs entered nto

orce n Apr 2004.

The snge European sky ams at reorgansng European arspace

accordng to ar trai c patterns, settng common technca and

procedura rues and osterng the deveopment o a harmonsed

European ATM system. The arspace s to be organsed n unctona

arspace bocks regardess o natona boundares. The new

organsaton o arspace w reduce deays, costs and emssons and

mprove saety.

Sngle market success

The snge market or ar transport n the EU has brought huge

benets to ar transport users. Frsty, the number o arne routes

wthn the EU has ncreased 170 % snce the creaton o the snge

avaton market n 1993 more ctes and aso remote regons are

now served by ar transport. Passengers have a greater choce o

destnatons and the convenence o more drect lghts.

Competton wthn the EU has strongy ncreased. Between 1992

and 2006, the number o routes wth more than two compettors

rose by 300 %. As a consequence, passengers have more choce and

prces have gone down sharpy.

Not ony are passengers n the EU aced wth ewer and ewer

monopoy servces but, over recent years, ow-cost carrers enterng

the market have ntroduced competey new busness modes and

changed the trave habts n many European countres. Low-cost

carrers have expanded rom 1 % o seat capacty to 28 % n 2006.

The enargement o the EU n 2004 demonstrated agan the benets

o the snge ar transport market. Freed rom the restrctons

mposed by government, ar trai c n the accesson countres more

than doubed wthn just two years.

SESAR: the next generaton n ar tra c management

In order to ensure the safety and ei cency of ar trai c over the next 30 years, the EU has aunched the SESAR programme for

the deveopment of a new-generaton ar trai c management system. A technoogca eap s needed to ensure safety and

ei cency of ar trave n ncreasngy congested skes. Such mprovements n ar trai c management woud aso reduce the

cmate change mpact of avaton. Ths ntatve nvoves a avaton payers n the desgn of the ATM system.

Utmatey, the SESAR programme s desgned to aow for a 50 % reducton of the costs of ar trai c management, a 10 %

reducton of emssons per lght, a trpng of ATM capacty and an mprovement of safety by a factor of 10.

Domestic(


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Budng on the success o the snge market or ar transport, the EU

s amng to create smar benets or the arne ndustry and arne

users or lghts to non-EU countres. Ths externa avaton pocy

oows the same approach o reguated competton as the snge

market:

Creatng new economc opportuntes

Internatona ar transport s st organsed very much around natona

arnes. Such natonaty restrctons deprve passengers o choce and

arnes o market and nvestment opportuntes. Removng these

restrctons w produce benets both or passengers and or the ar

transport ndustry.

Ensurng saety, securty and sustanabty o ar transport

Governments have an mportant roe n ar transport. They need to

ensure the saety and securty o ar transport. In ts externa avaton

pocy, the EU wants to ensure the hghest possbe degree o saety,

securty, and envronmenta and passenger protecton.

The open skes judgments and the need for change

Batera ar servces agreements usuay conne access to the

nternatona routes between the two countres concerned to ther

natona carrers ony. Such natonaty restrctons are an obstace to

cross-border nvestment and they are not n ne wth ree movement

o servces and capta, whch s one o the basc prncpes o the EU.

In andmark rungs n November 2002, the Court o Justce o the

European Communtes rued that eght batera agreements wth

the Unted States were contrary to the EU Treaty: these rungs came

to be known as the open skes judgments.

Lega certanty was needed. The Courts rungs meant that a o the

batera agreements between EU Member States and other countres

contaned ega eements. A these agreements needed to be

moded.

Extendng the sngle market

Foowng the Courts rungs, the EU deveoped ts externa avaton

pocy. Based on a proposa rom the European Commsson, EU

transport mnsters agreed n June 2005 on a comprehensve

roadmap or ths pocy wth objectves more ambtous than ony

ensurng ega certanty.

Extendng the snge market to neghbourng countres s a key EU

objectve. And goba agreements wth key partner countres w

am to acheve the best ramework or the ar transport ndustry and

the traveng pubc.

SPREADING ITS WINGS:THE EUSEXTERNAL AVIATION POLICY


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An ambtous polcy bult on three pllars

Updatng batera agreements

Foowng the open skes judgments, natonaty restrctons n the

batera agreements had to be repaced wth a Communty desgnaton

cause.

Ths adaptaton s beng done n two ways. Frsty, EU Member States

are obged to nsert the Communty causes n ther batera

negotatons. Secondy, horzonta agreements are used. On thebass o a horzonta mandate gven by EU transport mnsters, the

European Commsson adapts the provsons o a agreements

concuded between EU Member States and a thrd country. Ths knd

o agreement s very ei cent snce t ony takes one agreement to

mody up to 27 batera agreements. By September 2007, 27 such

horzonta agreements had been negotated wth countres as

A common avaton area wth the EUs neghbours

Deveopng coser avaton reatons wth neghbourng countres

brngs many benets. As we as economc advantages, there are

cear benets n terms o enhancng the saety, securty and ei cency

o ar transport n the EUs neghbourhood. Avaton s an mportant

eement n the overa European neghbourhood pocy. The objectve

s to create a common avaton area by 2010.

In June 2006, an agreement estabshng the European common

avaton area (ECAA) was sgned. Ths agreement ntegrates partner

countres n south-east Europe (Abana, Bosna and Herzegovna,

Croata, the ormer Yugosav Repubc o Macedona, Montenegro,

Serba, and the UN Msson n Kosovo) nto the snge market. The

ECAA partner countres w adopt EU ar transport aws and

reguatons. In parae, the ar transport markets are graduay beng

berased.

Once ECAA partners uy mpement the EUs avaton rues, ECAA

arnes w have open access to the enarged European snge

market n avaton. Ths w create new market opportuntes n an

ntegrated market o 35 countres and more than 500 mon peope.

At the same tme, the agreement w ead to unormy hgh eves o

saety and securty across Europe.


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In addton, the EU negotated an ar transport agreement wth

Morocco. Ths was the rst tme the EU as a regona group sgned a

compete avaton agreement wth a non-European country. The

agreement wth Morocco, sgned n December 2006, oows the

same prncpes o market openng combned wth reguatory

convergence.

As a next step, the EU hopes to extend the common avaton area

to ncude Ukrane. Ukrane s an emergng avaton market wth

hgh growth potenta the number o passengers lyng between

the EU and Ukrane ncreased rom 1.2 mon n 2003 to 1.8 mon

n 2005. Foowng the entry nto orce o a horzonta agreement n

October 2006, the European Commsson aunched negotatons on

a comprehensve avaton agreement wth Ukrane n February 2007.

In the end, a countres neghbourng the EU on both ts eastern and

southern borders are nvted to be part o one avaton area.

Success over Sbera

A ongstandng probem n reatons wth Russa has been that of Sberan overlght payments. In 200506, for exampe,

EU arnes were obged to pay more than USD 330 mon to the Russan company Aerolot to obtan the rght to ly over

Russan terrtory to Asan destnatons. At the EURussa summt n November 2006 n Hesnk, Fnand, the European

Commsson succeeded n reachng an agreement wth the Russan government. As a resut, the royaty payments were to

be graduay phased out and competey aboshed by 31 December 2013. Ths provded for a new start wth Russa whch

shoud ead to cose cooperaton on a mportant aspects of avaton such as safety and ar trai c management.(


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The goba agreements

At the same tme, the EU s seekng comprehensve avaton

agreements wth other key partner countres. Such agreements

aways oow the twn objectves o market openng and reguatory

cooperaton n matters such as avaton securty and saety. Ths s a

competey new mode o ar transport agreement. It s not about

open skes but common skes, estabshng a ramework that

mproves the compettveness o arnes and ensures the hghest

degree o saety, securty and sustanabty or the traveng pubc.

The United States

The objectve s to estabsh an open avaton area between the EU

and the USA. Ths woud create a snge market or ar transport

between the two, n whch nvestment coud low reey and n whch

arnes woud be ree to provde ar servces wthout any commerca

The agreement ensures a hgh degree o cooperaton between the

EU and USA n areas such as the appcaton o competton rues to

ar transport, avaton securty and tackng the cmate change

mpact o avaton. Further berasaton o market access and

nvestment opportuntes woud be an mportant part o the second-

stage negotatons rom 2008 onwards.

Canada

Wth 8 mon passengers a year, Canada s the second-bggest non-

European ar transport market or the EU. Ar trai c between the EU

and Canada doubed between 2000 and 2005. Negotatons wth

Canada on a comprehensve avaton agreement are due to start n

November 2007.

Australia, New Zealand and Chile

The European Commsson proposed n September 2005 openng

comprehensve avaton negotatons wth Austraa, New Zeaand and

Che. These three countres argey share the EUs market-drven and

consumer-orented approach. Ths shoud mean a postve outcome,

settng benchmarks or ar transport agreements wordwde.

China

Chna s the words most popuous naton and one o the words

astest-growng ar transport markets. The number o seats avaabe

on non-stop lghts between the EU and Chna rose rom 275 000 to

5.4 mon between 1990 and 2004. In 2004 aone, passenger ar

trai c n Chna grew by 38 %. At the EUChna avaton summt n

2005 n Bejng, a jont decaraton on cooperaton was sgned,

descrbng the wde area o cooperaton sought.


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India

In recent years, the Indan ar trai c market has been among the

astest growng n the word. In 2004, ar trai c n Inda ncreased by

around 25 %. As Inda s becomng a strategcay mportant market

or European arnes, arcrat manuacturers and servce provders, a

jont acton pan was agreed at the EUInda summt n 2005, ayng

the oundatons or coser cooperaton n the uture.

Pursung cooperaton wthn the multlateral framework

Through ntense cooperaton wth EU Member States, the European

Commsson aso wants to ensure that the voce o Europe s heard

wthn the Internatona Cv Avaton Organsaton (ICAO). The manam o the European pocy n ICAO s to urther mprove the saety,

securty and envronmenta record o nternatona avaton. In order

to oster the nluence o the EU n ICAO poces, the European

Commsson opened an oi ce n Montrea, Canada, n September

2005 and apponted a representatve to ICAO.

Other Europe: (non-EU-27): 31%

(Evolution 1999-2005: +75%)

North America: 23%

(Evolution 1999-2005: +9%)

North Africa: 11%Near & Middle East: 8%

(Evolution 1999 2005: +59%) Far East & Australasia: 13%

EU-27

Extra-EU-27 transport of passengers by ar: share by world regons (2005)


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Engagng n techncal cooperaton wth the world avaton communty

The EU foows a comprehensve agenda of deveopment cooperaton and technca assstance to partner countres, based on

the experence of the snge market and the objectve of mprovng avaton safety wordwde. Such cooperaton s pursued

wth ndvdua countres or on a regona bass, as the foowng exampes show.

The EU contrbuted to the EUInda Cv avaton project. More than 260 actvtes were competed over ve years and over

3 500 Indan experts were traned n accordance wth European safety standards and practces.

The EU aso contrbuted to the EUChna cooperaton project and to the EUAsa cooperaton project. Project partners

ganed knowedge and beneted from practca assstance n the ed of avaton, whe the EU deepened reatons,

mproved safety and rased awareness of European practces.

In Latn Amerca, the EU nanced two technca assstance projects to rase eves of safety. Frsty, t contrbuted to a programme

to hep the South Amercan aeronautca authortes to ensure contnued arworthness and oversght of safety. Secondy,

t provded support to the Centra Amercan Avaton Safety Agency n overseeng safety n centra Amercan countres.

The EU has provded practca assstance to the Agence pour a scurt de a navgaton arenne n Afrca, ncudng

support for a three-year tranng programme to enhance avaton safety. It s startng a project to strengthen the

nsttutona capacty of the Afrcan Unon.

To support the western Bakan partners n mpementng the ECAA Agreement, the EU s provdng ther cv avaton authortes

wth ega advce on EU avaton rues, as we as technca assstance and tranng n the area of safety, securty and ATM.

Meanwhe, the three-year Euromed avaton project w contrbute to the deveopment of the EuroMedterranean

transport network and w promote economc ntegraton among the Medterranean partners. The project ams to: support

an open, heathy and compettve avaton market n the regon; promote mproved avaton safety, securty and regona

ATM cooperaton and harmonsaton; and eaborate a roadmap for the mpementaton of the common avaton area.


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In spte o ts nternatona character nkng peope and countres,

the ar transport sector s st constraned. The ntegraton o markets

n Europe has demonstrated the benets o common skes: morechoce or passengers, ower prces, hgh eves o saety and securty,

better servce and a compettve ar transport ndustry.

Most avaton experts expect that n the uture the ar transport

ndustry w become a more norma ndustry wth cross-border

mergers, goba companes and nternatona competton. Natonaty

rues have become obsoete n a gobased economy. The EU has

aready contrbuted va ts agreements wth the USA and wth

neghbourng countres to the reorm o the ega ramework or

nternatona lghts. Ths means more economc opportuntes or thear ndustry and more choce or ar transport users.

CLEAR SKIES AHEAD:NORMALISING AIR TRANSPORT

The EU has estabshed a competey new approach or ar transport

agreements. Openng the skes s combned wth estabshng

common rues. The am s to contrbute to enhancng the saety,securty and sustanabty o ar transport wordwde. The EU s takng

a ead both n the berasaton and the reguaton o ar transport.

The utmate goa s the normasaton o nternatona avaton

pocy. In a rapdy gobasng economy, the avaton ndustr y shoud

be treated more ke other goba ndustres. Graduay removng

unnecessary reguatory barrers w aow both the arne ndustry

and ar transport users to uy reap the benets o an open,

compettve market.


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European common aviation area + Switzerland

Common aviation area by 2010

Global agreements

Global agreements proposed (Canada, Russia, China, India, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Jordan, Lebanon)

Countries that accepted Community designation clause (either under EC horizontal agreement or bilaterally)

Community designation clause under negotiation

Cartography Energy and Transport DG/Mostra November 2007

EUROPEAN COMMUNITYAVIATION AGREEMENTS


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EU Air Transport Policy