EU Launches Infringement Procedure Against Romania Over Air Service Agreement With Russia

05.19.2011 By Bostan Radu

The European Commission on Thursday launched an infringement procedure against Romania over its bilateral air service agreement with Russia.

According to a press release, the Commission is concerned that the agreement "may hinder equal treatment of EU airlines and competition between European airlines."

"Bilateral air service agreements between an individual Member State and a non-EU country have to include an 'EU designation clause' recognizing that the terms apply equally to all EU airlines, and not just the airlines of that Member State," says the Commission.

The clause is an essential part of the Single European Aviation Market, created in the 1990s, which guarantees that airlines are entitled to operate under the same conditions anywhere in the EU.

"The requirement to have an 'EU designation clause' was confirmed in the 'Open Skies rulings' of the Court of Justice in 2002. The Court stated that provisions limiting the benefits of air service agreements to national airlines of the Member State concerned are in breach of EU rules on freedom of establishment."

"Most agreements with non-EU countries have since been adapted to the Court ruling. Russia is one of the few countries in the world that fails to recognize that all EU carriers must be treated equally, and that the terms of any bilateral agreement must include an 'EU designation' clause and apply to all. This creates serious practical problems, putting at risk traffic rights, for example, for airlines taken over by a carrier from another EU Member State," says the bloc's executive arm.

The Commission has sent a formal letter of notice, to which Romania must respond within two months. If the answer is unsatisfactory, the Commission will send a reasoned opinion requesting Romania to amend its bilateral air service agreement with Russia.

Formal letters of notice on the same issue were sent to Austria, Finland, France and Germany in October 2010; to Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK in January 2011; to Cyprus, Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain in February 2011; to Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Malta and Slovenia in March 2011; to the Czech Republic and Bulgaria in April 2011.