30/01/2018 (Agence Europe) – On Monday 29 January, the Council of the European Union adopted the air transport agreement between the European Union and the United States. An agreement between the European Community and its member states on the one hand and the United States on the other was signed in 2007 but a new text is required to allow the EU, which acquired legal personality with the coming into force of the Lisbon treaties, to become a party to the agreement, along with Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia, which joined the Union after the initial text was signed. The ambassadors of the member states (Committee of permanent representatives) gave their approval on 26 January. MEPs, too, backed the signing of this text on 12 December of last year (see EUROPE 11924). The two parties must now formally sign the agreement. (LT)