EU en Rusland willen geleidelijk heffingen transsiberische vluchten beëindigen (en)
EU and Russia agree on phasing out fees for trans-Siberian
flights
The Council today1 endorsed a political arrangement with Russia on the use of trans-Siberian routes by EU air carriers, which will improve the competitiveness of EU carriers on routes to destinations in Asia. The arrangement abolishes the obligation for EU carriers to enter into commercial agreements with, and pay fees to, Russian air carriers for the use of those routes as from 1 January 2014 at the latest, thereby settling a long-standing point of contention between the Union and Russia in the field of aviation. Any charges to be paid to the Russian authorities will have to be cost-related and transparent and must not lead to discrimination between foreign airlines
The arrangement, called "agreed principles" and confirmed by an exchange of letters between both sides, will enter into force on the first day of the month following the date on which the decision on the accession of Russia to the World Trade Organisation is taken, which is expected to be in December this year. As from that day - that is, most likely from 1 January 2012 - newly operated overflight frequencies will not require prior conclusion of commercial agreements and corresponding payments, while payments resulting from existing overflight arrangements may not exceed the amount paid in 2006. In addition, six months after the entry into force, bilateral arrangements between EU member states and Russia are to be modified so as to ensure that no special commercial agreement or payment is needed for code sharing by EU carriers and for their right not to stop in Russian territory on trans-Siberian routes
The decision was taken without discussion at a meeting of the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council
Whilst the agreed principles were already initialled by the EU and Russia in 2006 and endorsed by the Council in 2007, Russia has only now agreed to commit itself to implementing them
The arrangement with Russia will be accompanied by an equalisation mechanism set up by the EU member states, aimed at avoiding competitive distortions. Under that mechanism, EU carriers operating new frequencies free of payment will contribute to a fund to be redistributed among the EU carriers that still have to make payments under existing commercial agreements during the transitional period until 1 January 2014. This mechanism will be approved by the Council at a later stage