The air transport relations between the European Union and the United States

Air Transport relations between the European Union and the United States were nonexistent until the European Commission obtained in 1996 from the member states a limited mandate to negotiate an air transport agreement with the US. For the Commission, the achievement of an EU internal market with full competition among European airlines under equal conditions is impeded by individual member states' bilateral relations with the US. It requested a complete mandate to replace the multitude of bilaterals with a Community wide agreement. Member states fear that Community negotiations will not reflect the different needs of their national airlines. They believe that their interests are best met through individual bilateral agreements and refused the Commission the right to negotiate the commercially important market access rights: routes, capacity and frequency. Even though the US is willing to consider an agreement with the EU it still pursues bilateral liberalisation through Open Skies agreements as they are more advantageous to its interests. For EU and US airlines an agreement on the EU - US level is not a priority as their needs are being met through their strategic codesharing alliances.; This thesis studies the legal rules affecting the EU - US relations and analyses to what extent these rules are shaped by political and economic interests. Special attention is paid to the convergence and divergence of the parties' legal regimes and policies, and to the prospects for an agreement on the essential issues of a complete bilateral agreement between the US and the EU.