Brussels, 13/07/2001 (Agence Europe) - Towards the end of summer, the European Commission could sign a multilateral agreement on civil aviation with Cyprus and the other countries candidates for accession, except for Hungary. The partners have already finalised negotiations and the Commission would like to implement this agreement as soon as it has received the positive opinion of the Court of Justice, which is examining its compatibility with the Treaty. The agreement provides, notably, for the establishment of a European civil aviation area, already before accession to the EU, with a reciprocal opening up of airline markets. This means that national airline companies will be exposed to competition from companies from other countries signatories to the agreement. Hungary continues to demand a transition period until 2005, period the Commission regards as too long. According to Hungarian sources, the Commission's request to liberalise civil aviation before enlargement is not justified and Hungary will only open up its market after it has joined the EU. The Hungarian national airline company, MALEV is currently in difficulty and opening up markets to competition would further weaken its position.