02/08/2005 (Agence Europe) - On 29 July, the European Commission approved four horizontal agreements on air transport with the countries of the Western Balkans: Serbia and Montenegro, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Albania. The agreements have been put to the approval of the Council, which is already discussing a Commission's proposal on a horizontal agreement with Croatia, a press release states. This kind of agreement does not replace the bilateral agreements between these countries and the EU Member States but does eliminate the discriminatory clauses, which have become illegal since the EU Court of Justice decision on 5 November 2002, the press release states. The Commission is also negotiating an agreement on a common European airspace with the Western Balkans, in order to integrate these countries into a single airspace thanks to application of the same standards throughout the area covered.