Originally Posted by
homonculus
The subheading of the article, in an Irish paper is
[h2]When the UK leaves the EU and becomes a ‘third country’, it ceases to be part of the fully-liberalised EU aviation market ]
you did say you werent interested in rhetoric.......
No, a 'third country' is simply a country not part of the EU:
The term ‘third country’ is used in the Treaties, where it means a country that is not a member of the Union. This meaning is derived from ‘third country’ in the sense of one not party to an agreement between two other countries. Even more generally, the term is used to denote a country other than two specific countries referred to, e.g. in the context of trade relations. This ambiguity is also compounded by the fact that the term is often incorrectly interpreted to mean ‘third-world country’.
https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/obse...ntry-nationals