Vol. 478 No. 3
16 Mr. Killeen asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications the commitment, if any, this country has to the common external policy of the EU regarding air transport agreement with the United States; the nature and effect of such commitment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10833/97]
The EU Transport Council in June 1996 approved a mandate for the Commission to enter into negotiations with the US on the possibility of concluding an agreement on an EU-US common aviation area.
The first round of negotiations between the Community and the US took place in Washington on 30 and 31 October 1996 and a second round took place in Brussels on 3 April.
To date the negotiations are concentrating on regulatory issues such as competition rules, ownership and control, code sharing, leasing, computer reservations systems etc. The mandate does not yet allow for negotiations on traffic rights.
I expect that at the next transport council in June, the Commission will be reporting on the outcome of the negotiations to date. It is too early to assess how long the development of any draft EU-US multilateral agreement may take or to speculate as to future council decisions in the matter.
