United States and European Union Sign New Open Skies Agreement

The United States and the European Union have just agreed to a second Open Skies aviation agreement. This one significantly liberalizes transatlantic aviation regulations.

The first Open Skies deal, which came into force March of 2008, allowed unlimited access to and from Europe and the United States for international carriers. The second stage of this deal now seeks to allow European and American airlines to take major stakes in competitors.

Right now foreign control of United States carriers is currently capped at 25 percent. United States airlines can gain ownership of European Union carriers by 49.9 percent. Any effort to boost European ownership of American airlines more than this in the past would require approval from the United States Congress.

The European commission vice president responsible for transport, Siim Kallas, welcomed this as a major step forward. He said that both sides have agreed to increase regulatory co-operation and remove the barriers to market access that have been holding back the development of the world’s most important aviation markets. The European Union has long pressed for such an outcome. They said that it would represent a key step towards liberating the airline industry from the outdated regulatory constraints in the area of foreign investment that prevent it from acting like any other industry.

However, John Byerly, the chief United States Negotiator, said that the progress in the negotiations is far from assured. He insisted that the united States has made no commitments to change its ownership limits. He said that there are no requirements and no timetable. Thus, only time will tell what this new Open Skies Agreement will truly hold in store for the aviation world.

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