Flight Intl. 13-19 APRIL 2004:
AIR TRANSPORT JUSTIN WASTNAGE / BRUSSELS
USA warns Europe over Open Skies
EC calls for fuller access to US domestic market rebuffed
The USA will probably never fully liberalise its aviation market and Europe should stop holding out for a better deal in transatlantic Open Skies talks, says US Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta.
Mineta used a joint meeting of the European Aviation Club and US Chamber of Commerce at the European Parliament in Brussels last week to counter European calls for access to the US domestic aviation market.
Mineta says the European Commission negotiating team has presented several "innovative" versions of the same request for improved market access for European carriers. Mineta's team had to reject each one, he says, as every version "still looked like cabotage". One senior US official involved in the talks says the USA is angry that Europe is holding out for "something that was never on the table".
Meanwhile, Karan Bhatia, US Department of Transportation (DoT) assistant secretary for aviation and international affairs, says: "The [US] proposal should be recognised for what it is: a great deal".
Changes to US laws banning foreign carriers from flying US domestic routes are strongly opposed by labour organisations and, as such, existing rules will be almost impossible to change before the forthcoming elections in the USA, says Mineta (Flight International, 23-29 March). "Not only this November, but one, two, three years from now and perhaps forever, Congress's feelings will be no different," Mineta says. The DoT is urging Europe to accept early adoption of the US proposal or risk derailing the negotiations.
Mineta says the EC "must seize the moment or else risk losing the window of opportunity for a long and unforeseeable time".
The European Parliament's transport committee has already opposed the US proposal, under which the USA would permit carriers to fly from any EU point to any US destination and would raise the foreign control limit for US carriers to 49% from 25%.
Europeans fear that accepting a quick "mini deal" risks giving the USA the prize of London Heathrow airport access, while delivering little progress on its aims to loosen ownership, cabotage and state aid rules in the USA, says Jacqueline Foster, a member of the European Parliament specialising in aviation legislation.