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 The Commission, the EU executive, also asked national governments to
give it a mandate to start talks on air transport agreements with a
number of countries including China, Turkey, United Arab Emirates,
Kuwait and Qatar.
The talks with the Gulf countries are likely to be fraught with
difficulty since some European legacy carriers, notably Lufthansa
and Air France KLM, accuse the Gulf airlines of receiving unfair
state subsidies and have been pushing the Commission to address this
in negotiations for air transport agreements.
Emirates [EMIRA.UL] and Etihad reject the allegations.
The Aviation Package presented by Transport Commissioner Violeta
Bulc and Vice President in charge of the energy union, Maros
Sefcovic, contains a wide range of measures designed to improve
connectivity in the 28-member bloc, tackle airports' capacity
constraints and charges and regulate the use of drones.
"It will keep European companies competitive, through new investment
and business opportunities, allowing them to grow in a sustainable
manner," Bulc said in a statement.
Europe's aviation industry, which contributes 110 billion euros
($119 billion) to the EU GDP, has been hit by the rapid expansion of
the Gulf carriers and the rise of Asia as a major air traffic hub.
Its legacy carriers have also suffered at the hands of European
low-cost players such as Ryanair and easyJet.
Business lobby group Business Europe said it wanted better
implementation of previous packages to ensure coordination and
management of European airspace.
"As a comparison, the United States controls the same amount of
airspace, with more traffic, at almost half the cost," it said,
adding it wanted to see an international level playing field and
better access to growing markets."
The other countries with which the Commission wants to negotiate air
transport agreements are Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Mexico and the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Next year, the Commission plans to issue guidelines on the law on
ownership and control of EU airlines to give legal certainty to
investors and airlines.
It will also "actively" pursue the relaxation of the rules on the
basis of reciprocity through bilateral aviation and trade
agreements.
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While the limit on foreign ownership of EU airlines is clearly
capped at 49 percent, there is less clarity on what constitutes
effective control.
Etihad, for example, owns 29 percent of Germany's Air Berlin and 49
percent of Alitalia.
Reuters reported that the Commission would suggest loosening
ownership rules on Nov. 5.
The executive will also tackle the issue of airlines employing
lower-cost workers overseas to avoid high labor costs in Europe by
issuing a guide on the applicable labor law and considering whether
legal changes are needed.
Europe's third-biggest budget airline Norwegian Airhas, for
instance, circumvented Norway's labor laws by basing some of its
crew and jets in countries such as Spain and Thailand, while Ryanair
has come under fire in some countries for using pilots employed
through agencies, rather than directly with the carrier.
EU member states were urged to complete the "Single European Sky"
project, in process for a decade and which would cut costs and
emissions by merging national air corridors.
The Commission estimates that fragmentation of European airspace
costs at least 5 billion euros a year and up to 50 million tonnes of
CO2 emissions.
($1 = 0.9246 euros)
(Reporting by Julia Fioretti; editing by Philip Blenkinsop)
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