EU transport ministers today unanimously backed the new Open Skies deal on transatlantic flights, being negotiated by the European Commission.
Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot warmly welcomed the agreement. "This is good for passengers and good for airlines. It is good for the European Union and its individual Member States, for the United States and for the entire transatlantic economy.
"I am grateful to the transport ministers of the EU for the confidence they have expressed in me and my team from start to finish in what has been a long and tough negotiation."
The deal opens up the aviation market on flights between Europe and the US to more competition and Mr Barrot said that the unity shown at today's meeting would strengthen the EU's hand in the next phase of negotiations.
"This first phase of our transatlantic agreement is not a dead-end. I am confident that the process we have started today will continue onwards to deliver greater freedom for investors in aviation, even closer cooperation between the two sides and a healthier air transport industry in general, not just across the Atlantic, but in due course with other countries all over the World", he said.
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