Thread: US remains committed to airline deal with EU

August 18th, 2006
U.S. Remains Committed to Airline Deal with Europe, Officials Say

According to the EU, Maria Cino, the acting U.S. transportation secretary, had told her EU counterpart, Jacques Barrot, that a final regulation giving foreign investors more operational authority over U.S. airlines is unlikely to be issued in time for EU transportation ministers to consider an open skies agreement at their meeting scheduled for October.

The Bush administration remains committed to a deal with the European Union (EU) on liberalizing the trans-Atlantic aviation market despite a delay in rulemaking on foreign control of U.S. airlines, U.S. officials say.

State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said August 17 the administration is holding to pledges made by the two sides in June on concluding a U.S.- EU open skies agreement by the end of 2006.

A day earlier Jeff Shane, the under secretary of transportation, said the United States remains committed to changing airline investment regulation despite another delay. The EU considers the change critical to its final acceptance of the agreement.

According to the EU, Maria Cino, the acting U.S. transportation secretary, had told her EU counterpart, Jacques Barrot, that a final regulation giving foreign investors more operational authority over U.S. airlines is unlikely to be issued in time for EU transportation ministers to consider an open skies agreement at their meeting scheduled for October.

In November 2005, the two sides reached the tentative deal that would replace a complex structure of bilateral agreements with a simpler regime designed to allow airlines to fly between any U.S. and EU cities. It also would strengthen cooperation on safety, security and competition.

Since then, the U.S. Transportation Department has attempted to issue a new rule that would give foreign investors -- limited by law to 25 percent ownership share of U.S. airlines -- a greater say over operational matters such as schedules, routes and aircraft fleet composition.

The rule would apply only to international investors from countries that have open-skies agreements with the United States and would continue to preclude foreign control over security, safety and defence issues related to airlines.

Despite these safeguards and approval from the Defence Department, members of Congress have criticized the proposed rule, complaining that foreign nationals' influence over U.S. airlines' managerial decisions could pose a risk to U.S. national security.

The Transportation Department revised its proposed rule and planned to issue it by the end of August. But even the modified version apparently failed to mollify congressional critics.

In July, the House of Representatives approved an amendment to a spending bill that would block the rule change; a Senate appropriations committee backed a similar provision.

If the full Senate passes it after the August recess the two versions of the bill must be reconciled and both chambers must approve a final bill before the president can sign it into law.

The State Department's Casey said the administration needs more time to address all the concerns raised by Congress.

The European Commission's transportation spokesman said the EU still hopes for the rule to come out in time for the open skies agreement to be approved by the end of 2006 and implemented in mid-2007.

http://www.a2mediagroup.com/?c=145&a=9184

This is more globalization BS. This should not be allowed. I don't see why we need to give certain controls to foreign interest in order to have a workable airlines/ATC system.