On Tuesday 12 December, MEPs meeting up at the European Parliament plenary session gave their massive support to the resolution for signing the aviation transport agreement between the EU and US on behalf of the European Union (571 votes for, 44 against, with 35 abstentions).
This vote was simply a formality, given the results of Parliament's transport committee vote on 23 November last (38 votes for, 0 against, 3 abstentions). The first agreement between the two parties was previously signed on 25 and 30 April 2007 by the Council in view of establishing “an aviation area without borders” between the European Community and its member states with the US. The European Parliament approved this agreement on 11 October 2007.
Nonetheless, due to the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty on 1 December 2009, another vote was necessary to enable the European Union, which did not obtain a legal personality of its own until the ratification of said treaty, to become a signatory to this agreement and to take into account the accession of Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia to the EU. With this vote of approval, the Council of the European Union will now be able to sign this agreement on behalf of the European Union. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)