30 May 2008

Canada—European Union Air Transport Agreement within Reach

The following news release was issued by Transport Canada on 29 May 2008.

The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities… concluded his participation at the first meeting of the International Transport Forum…. Minister Cannon took the opportunity to reflect on the considerable progress that has been made in the negotiations towards establishing an Open Skies-type air transport agreement between Canada and the European Union (EU)….

Successful negotiations would bring the legal certainty that the EU has sought to allow EU carriers to fly from any point in the EU to any point in Canada. An agreement would also ensure that a level playing field exists for market access to Canada for all EU Member State airlines. …

Three rounds of negotiations have taken place since the last Canada-EU Summit, in June 2007. It was there that Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the German Chancellor and then EU President Angela Merkel, as well as the President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso, agreed to launch formal negotiations toward a comprehensive air services agreement between Canada and the European Community and its Member States.