Open-skies deal is 'in Europe's best interests'

Europe and Ireland's best interests will be served if the proposed open-skies agreement with the US succeeds, the EU transport commissioner Jacques Barrot said yesterday.

In an address to the EU parliament earlier yesterday, Mr Barrot also said the proposed EU-US Air Services Agreement was a "better agreement for Europe" than the one that had previously been rejected.

He added that, if the proposed agreement was accepted, in five years' time there would be €6-€12 billion of economic benefit, 80,000 jobs on both sides of the Atlantic, and 26 million extra passengers would have the possibility of travelling between Europe and the US. "The number of routes to the US from Spain, Ireland and Greece, in particular, is severely limited. So we are going to open up new possibilities for these countries," he said.

The agreement would allow airlines from the 27 EU states and airlines from the US to fly to airports in each other's territories without seeking official approval, subject to them securing a landing slot.

However, the proposal has been strongly resisted by Britain, which fears that it is too heavily weighted in favour of US airlines and could damage British Airways' business. The deal will be put before EU transport ministers at a meeting in Brussels on March 22nd and, crucially for Britain, needs a unanimous yes vote to be ratified.

Minister for Transport Martin Cullen yesterday urged his British counterpart, Douglas Alexander, to support the draft agreement. At a meeting in London, Mr Cullen told the British secretary of state for transport that Open Skies was a "good deal" and would address a large imbalance given that US airlines currently have greater rights in Europe than airlines on this continent enjoy across the Atlantic.

The Minister also told Mr Alexander that the deal would increase tourism and economic activity in Ireland.

British Airways has lobbied the Labour government to oppose Open Skies. The Willie Walsh-led airline would lose its dominant position at Heathrow on transatlantic flights if the deal goes ahead.

Mr Barrot acknowledged that the "balance" of the agreement between Europe and the US had posed problems in previous negotiations on the deal.

The European Council of Ministers had also previously demanded more access for European companies to the American market, he said. But under the new agreement, European investors would have new rights and could not be subject to unilateral changes by the US, he added.

Warning against missing out on what was the first stage of the process to establish an open aviation area, Mr Barrot said it was right to solicit a mechanism that would enable a transition to this second stage. This had in fact been obtained, he said.