EU Commission gives green light for traffic deals in Turkey, the Gulf and ASEAN

Subsequent to the Commission asking EU member governments in December to give a mandate to commence discussions on air transport agreements with such countries as Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait, Turkey and China, the green light has been given for talks to commence on establishing where airlines in these countries could fly into the EU, and vice versa.
The hope is that such deals will provide European airlines with improved access to some of the world’s most rapidly expanding markets, particularly Turkey and the Gulf, thus generating billions of euros in additional revenue. According to the EU’s Transport Commissioner, Violeta Bulc, “Once agreed, these agreements will offer new business opportunities to the whole aviation sector, new routes and better fares to passengers, whilst guaranteeing a level playing field to our companies.”
With the opening up of such discussions, the Commission will be able to demand greater financial transparency and fairer competition provisions which have been keenly sought by such countries as France and Germany. Air France-KLM and Lufthansa have both accused a number of Gulf carriers of having received unfair state subsidies.
The trade association for European airports, ACI Europe, considers this an opportunity to replace “often-restrictive bilateral aviation agreements” with EU-level ones. According to the ACI Europe Director General, Olivier Jankovec, “Airports have become network developers and they need full freedom to attract airlines to serve their destination. Restricting market access should no longer be allowed to constrain connectivity.”
What has appeased a number of carriers, especially from the Gulf, has been the introduction of a ‘sunset clause’ into the situation by the EU states. Previously, EU member states were not allowed to engage in bi-lateral talks while EU-level negotiations were ongoing. The fear from certain carriers was that the EU-level mandate could be used to freeze their operations in Europe. The sunset clause would ensure that if EU-level negotiations drag on for too long, bi-lateral agreement talks can be resumed. It is anticipated, however, that the Commission may object to this clause.
Mandates will last for four years for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Turkey, and three years for Qatar and Kuwait.