Brussels, 10/12/2015 (Agence Europe) - Although the transport ministers of the member states of the EU welcomed the new aviation strategy (see EUROPE 11447), they also questioned the content of the negotiation mandates and the consequences of these, at their meeting in Brussels on Thursday 10 December.
Although no debate was scheduled (being due formally to begin in January 2016), six member states decided to intervene following the presentation of the new strategy by the Commissioner for Transport, Violeta Bulc. Whilst praising the work carried out thus far, France stressed the need to include a fair competition clause in the global agreements planned by the European Commission, particularly with the Gulf States. On this point, Paris has the backing of Belgium. Similarly, Cyprus stressed the need to comply with international law and contract law in the framework of these agreements.
Finland, in turn, expressed concern at the fact that bilateral talks underway will be suspended once the European Commission's negotiations with third countries have launched. Lastly, Germany does not feel that it is ideal for the Commission to be carrying out several negotiations at the same time.
Speaking to EUROPE, Bulc explained that she was proposing a raft of simultaneous negotiations because in some cases, negotiations can get held up and for this reason, she would rather not hold up all the talks simply because one of them has hit stony ground. She also confirmed that the launch of negotiations at European level would mark the end of the bilateral negotiations underway, but that it would not have any effect on agreements already concluded, she stressed.
Among the other points raised by the member states, Estonia asked the Commission to look at the quality of the connectivity of the air network in Europe, stressing that this is extremely unequal between Western Europe and Eastern Europe. It called for the creation of a measurement instrument. A source close to the dossier also said that the question of connectivity would attract more attention from the member states in the future. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)