The European Parliament and Austrian Presidency of the Council of the European Union will attempt to complete by the dossier for tackling unfair competition from third-country airlines by the end of November.
The inter-institutional negotiations (trilogues) are based on the European Commission's proposal of June 2017 to revise the current regulation (868/2004) on tackling unfair competition from airlines outside the EU (see EUROPE 11804).
The discussions at the Council of the EU “aviation” working party do not look like they are going to be necessarily very easy over the course of the first months of negotiations (see EUROPE 11983, 11995), particularly because of the opposition between countries in western Europe on one side, which would like a robust text and those from central, eastern and peripheral Europe, which are eager to maintain the connectivity of their respective territories.
The meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives to the EU (Coreper) on 4 May last helped to obtain a political agreement in principle ("general approach") (see EUROPE 12015), confirmed by Transport Ministers at the beginning of June (see EUROPE 12036).
Despite several points of divergence (see EUROPE 11965, 11971), there was more consensus in the discussions at the European Parliament and the latter's transport committee adopted its position on 20 March (see EUROPE 11984).
A first trilogue meeting therefore took place at the end of June and helped to define working methods (see EUROPE 12051). The differences in the position defined by the two institutions are real enough with the MEPs effectively agreeing on a more robust text than that agreed by the Council.
In particular, the Parliament would like a state to be able to adopt operational measures in the event of possible damages that could threaten a European airline owing to anti-competitive practices by a third-country operator, which the Council is opposed to.
The Parliament also advocates the possible suspension or restriction of flying rights on a third-country airline as a penalty. The states, however, are opposed to this. In addition to the technical meetings, a second trilogue meeting will take place on 24 September, followed by two more meetings in October and November. The negotiators are hoping that this final meeting will be conclusive. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)