Officials from the European Union and Brazil will meet in Brazil on January 30-31, 2014 to resume talks on an ambitious air transport agreement that would open up the EU – Brazil air transport market. The two sides will seek to finalise the agreement in time for the next EU–Brazil summit, which is scheduled to be held on February 27, 2014 in the Belgian capital, Brussels.
The agreement will aim at opening market access for airlines, achieving a high level of regulatory convergence in areas such as security, safety, environment, consumer protection and fair competition, and resolving "doing business" issues for airlines. It will also be an important cornerstone in the EU's external aviation policy adopted in 2012.
“Brazil is a strategically important and fast-growing market and I am very pleased that there is now a clear prospect and a common will to finalise this important agreement,” said Siim Kallas, European Commission Vice-President, responsible for mobility and transport. “This will generate significant benefits for the travelling public as well as new opportunities for industry.”
An agreement with Brazil could generate up to €460 million consumer benefits a year, according to the EU and the potential for traffic growth is estimated at 335,000 additional passengers in the first year, it added. Finalising an agreement is all the more important considering that Brazil will host the FIFA World Cup this summer, and the Olympic Games in 2016.
Following a mandate granted to the European Commission in October 2010 by EU transport ministers, the EU and Brazil first negotiated an ambitious air transport agreement aimed at opening up the markets. Negotiations were finalised in March 2011 and the draft agreement was initialled by the two sides subject to final authorisation to sign the agreement.
The agreement should have been signed later in 2011, but the Brazilian side requested a review of certain provisions that had been agreed during the negotiations. The Brazilian demands were later clarified.
At the EU–Brazil summit in January 2013, the leaders of both sides confirmed their mutual interest in concluding the negotiations as soon as possible, in view of the significant economic benefits that an agreement will generate for both the EU and Brazil. The European Commission obtained an extension of the negotiating mandate by the EU Transport Council in December 2013.
The EU has already comprehensive air transport agreements in place with the United States, Canada, Morocco, the Western Balkan countries, Jordan, Georgia, Moldova and Israel and an agreement is expected to be signed in March 2014 with Ukraine. Negotiations are ongoing with Azerbaijan, Tunisia and Lebanon. In the course of 2014, the Commission said it will be making further proposals for implementing the new road-map for the EU's external aviation policy.
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