Brussels, 28/10/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 28 October, the European Commission opened infringement proceedings sending letters of formal notice to France, Germany, Austria and Finland for having unilaterally concluded bilateral aviation agreements with Russia allowing overflight of Siberia (see EUROPE 10243). Contrary to European norms in force, the agreements do not contain a clause stipulating that terms are to be applied in an identical fashion to all Union carriers, which can pose “practical problems” when it comes to an airline being bought up by another airline, the Commission states in a press release. The bilateral air service agreements between the four member states and Russia contain specific provisions on establishing traffic rights as well as on the modalities for fixing the charges that EU-designated carriers must pay to Aeroflot in order to fly over Siberia on their way to Asia ($420 million in 2008, the Commission says). Different conditions are imposed on EU airlines depending on the country where they are based. The Commission is concerned that such provisions may be in breach of EU antitrust rules and could lead to competition distortions. It also states that the compulsory introduction in bilateral air service agreements of the clause stipulating that terms should apply equally to all EU carriers was confirmed in 2002 by the EU Court of Justice's Open Skies ruling. To meet this obligation, the Commission obtained a mandate for negotiating a “horizontal” air agreement with Russia, bringing existing bilateral agreement into line with European legislation. Russia is one of the last countries not to agree to treat all European countries equally, the Commission indicates. According to the Polish press, Warsaw plans to tackle the question of overflying Siberia within the committee on cooperation strategy between Poland and Russia, a bilateral mechanism that must define the framework for cooperation strategy between the two states. (A.By./transl.jl)