Brussels, 06/04/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 6 April, the European Commission launched infringement procedures against Bulgaria and the Czech Republic over their bilateral air service agreements with Russia. Determined to get these negotiations out of the quagmire and to conclude a horizontal agreement with Russia, the Commission is concerned that the bi-lateral agreements may hinder equal treatment of EU airlines and competition between European airlines, and provide the basis for Siberian overflight charges that may be illegal under EU anti-trust rules (EUROPE 10243).
Letters of formal notice have been sent over recent months to 23 other member states (in October 2010 to Austria, Finland, France and Germany, in January 2011 to Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK, in February 2011 to Cyprus, Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain and in March 2011 to Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Malta and Slovenia). The Commission is now assessing the compliance with EU law of the remaining two member states' bilateral aviation agreements with Russia. They will also probably be sent a letter of formal notice. The Commission considers that bilateral air service agreements should include an “EU designation clause” recognising that the terms apply equally to all EU airlines, and not just the airlines of the signatory countries. The Commission is also concerned that this is in breach of EU antitrust law whereby airlines should not be forced into concluding a commercial agreement with a direct competitor. These agreements also focus on overflight charges all airlines have to pay when flying over Siberia. In a press release published on Wednesday, the Commission explained that it is estimated that in 2008 alone, the EU carriers concerned paid around US$420 million in charges - most of it directly to the Russian airline Aeroflot. (A.By./transl.fl)