Au contrair, Beaver, grandfather rights go with specific airlines, not countries. When a carrier ceases to operate grandfathered routes, it's home country cannot nominate a replacement without new negotiations.
Even a name change puts those routes in jeopardy.
The United States does not have cabotage, according to your definition, since it is a political amalgamation of individual states within one country, America. America has cabotage, but what is America?
Interstate operation such as NY/Fla is the same as France/Portugal according to EU rules. Can foreign carriers operate NY/Fla on 5th freedom?
The best examples of grandfather rights came from PanAm, BOAC, and KLM, mainly because they had routes in place before Chicago 1944.
The fact that you do not recognise the EU as a political as well as economic union would be disputed by many EU citizens who find their lives seriously affected by the absurd rules of the EU parliament.
The main reason that US carriers have an economic advantage is that they play the game to the less restrictive rules of the FAA. If EU carriers operated to FAA rules they would blow the US carriers totally into the weeds.
If you asked the EU hierarchy they would vociferously assert that they are a political union despite any evidence to the contrary.
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It'll never fly.
[This message has been edited by RightsFlyer (edited 22 March 2001).]