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| By Chris Missiuna Producer: Brent Jolly |
OTTAWA | Feb. 9 , 2007 — Canada hopes to succeed where the United States has failed in negotiating a new transatlantic airline agreement with the European Union to reduce fares, create jobs and increase trade.
That became a possibility early this year when the European Commission took the first steps toward negotiating an "Open Skies" agreement that would dramatically deregulate air travel between Canada and all 27 European Union countries. Canada already has 17 different Open Skies treaties with individual European countries. The agreement would open the trans-border European market to Canadian airlines but Europe would not gain access to the routes between Canada and the United States. The problem with the U.S. For European air carriers to serve these North American routes, the European Union must negotiate separate treaties with both Canada and the U.S. Europe has been in talks with the United States since 2003.
Bill Mosley, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Transportation says, "There was a text of an Open Skies agreement reached well over a year ago." But Mosley says it was contingent on allowing more foreign ownership of U.S. airlines. "There was a great deal of opposition expressed to that in Congress," says Mosley. "After a time, we withdrew the proposal." When asked if this failure might reduce the incentive for Europe to sign an agreement with Canada because European airlines could not access the profitable U.S. – Canada market Mosley simply answers, "Yes." Negotiations between the U.S. and the EU were going nowhere until early February when the two sides began talking again. No one will comment on the likelihood of striking a deal. Roy Christensen, a spokesman for the European Commission in Canada, says the European Parliament still has to approve a mandate to negotiate with Canada. "We expect it will be unanimous," says Christensen. He says the Commission is moving forward because a study it commissioned indicates significant benefits coming from increased passengers and business between Canada and Europe. Christensen says, "With an open aviation agreement there would be an increase from 8 to 14 million [passengers] by 2011."
The study also concluded an Open Skies agreement would create 3,700 jobs in its first year. Christensen cautions it will be a long time before any deal takes shape and is signed. "We want an agreement that replaces the 17 bilateral ones but not one that only replaces it, one that goes further. How much further? I don't know. It depends on how far the Canadians are willing to go." Christensen says, "It's not going to happen this year. It's something that takes time." Blue skies The EU's move comes after the Harper government released a report titled "Blue Sky" that proposes pursuing open aviation agreements between Canada and other countries. Despite that policy statement, when it comes to Europe, Canada is more hesitant than the optimistic Europeans. Lucie Vignola, a spokesperson with Transport Canada, says the government had not planned to announce the talks but the EU issued a news release. "The EU opened up the door," says
Vignola. "It's too early to tell [if] there would be
increased flights which would hopefully lead to lower fares." The
first step won't happen until after the European Parliament meets on
March 9.
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Canadian Transportation Agency 
