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Air
International aviation: Canada
The EU-Canada Air Transport Agreement, signed on 17/18 December 2009, is so far the most ambitious air transport agreement between the EU and a major partner in the world. It had been finalised in November 2008 and was endorsed by the EU-Canada Summit in May 2009.
The Agreement was negotiated by the Commission under a mandate received from the Council in October 2007, and will replace the existing bilateral air services agreements concluded between EU Member States and Canada. The Agreement will significantly improve both the connections between respective markets and people-to-people links, and will create new opportunities in the airline sector through a gradual liberalisation of foreign ownership rules with respect to airlines. It includes a gradual phasing-in of traffic rights, mutual investment opportunities, as well as far reaching cooperation on a number of issues including safety, security, social matters, consumer interests, environment, air traffic management, competition law and state aid.
The Agreement is groundbreaking in the aviation world as it provides for unprecedented levels of liberalisation in terms of traffic rights as well as of foreign investment in airlines.
Under the Agreement EU airlines and Canadian airlines are allowed to operate direct flights between any point in Canada and any point within the EU. The Agreement also removes all restrictions on the number of weekly flights between Canada and the EU, and the capacity and prices offered by airlines. Further traffic rights will be liberalised gradually in parallel with the opening up of investment opportunities. The Agreement will finally establish a fully Open Aviation Area between the EU and Canada. EU nationals will be allowed to establish operations in Canada and freely invest in Canadian airlines and vice versa.
Furthermore, the Agreement will help tackle common challenges such as safety, security or the environment. Both sides agreed to closely cooperate in order to mitigate the effects of aviation on climate change. In the field of safety and security, the agreement envisages the mutual recognition of each other's standards and one-stop security. Specific provisions to improve consumer interests are also included. This will facilitate the operations for airlines and airports, and will reduce hassle for passengers. The text provides for a strong mechanism to ensure that fair competition between operators is always maintained, which is another novelty in international aviation.
Related documents
Legislation
Final text of the EU-Canada Air Transport Agreement 
[117 KB] [The text may be subject to changes by the lawyer-linguists of both sides.]
Press room
EU and Canada sign Air Transport Agreement [IP/09/1963,
17/12/2009] 
The EU-Canada aviation agreements – Q&A
EU-Canada Summit Declaration, 6 May 2009 [173 KB]
EU-Canada summit in Prague - 6 May 2009 (Presidency)
Press Release: 2935th Council meeting "Transport,
Telecommunications and Energy"; 30-31 March 2009
Breakthrough in EU-Canada negotiations on far-reaching
aviation agreement [IP/08/1914, 09/12/2008]
EU and Canada start negotiations on a broad aviation agreement
[IP/07/1827, 30/11/2007]
Commission proposes to open aviation negotiations with Canada
[IP/07/23, 09/01/2007]
[120 KB]