The European Commission (EC) has taken the first steps in a process which it hopes will see Europe take a seat on the ICAO Council. This is the latest sign that Brussels is determined to increase its influence as a regulator on the world stage.
The EC drew up an internal text last month as a basis for discussions with the 15 member states of the European Union (EU). A Brussels insider admitted the proposed move is "possible, but difficult". Under the Chicago Convention of 1948, membership of ICAO is reserved for sovereign states. However, European membership of a United Nations body is not unprecedented. The EC already has a place on the UN Framework Convention for Climate Change and is seeking a seat on the council of the International Maritime Organisation, ICAO's equivalent in the shipping world.
As a first step, Brussels is likely to seek permanent observer status on the ICAO Council. It is already able to attend meetings, but the permanent status would allow Brussels to contribute to discussions. It currently has such status on the ICAO Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection, which sets industry noise and emissions standards.
This approach would sidestep the thorny issue of full ICAO membership, complete with voting rights. Officials in both ICAO and the EC admit it is unclear how this would work. At the moment, the 15 member states have voting rights, and Brussels is keen to stress it is not looking to take these over.
What is also unclear is what this would mean for aviation relations between Brussels and Washington, which have been strained in recent years by a number of issues, such as engine hushkits, post-11 September aid to US airlines and the proposed Transatlantic Common Aviation Area (TCAA).
The EC's attempt to gain a seat on ICAO forms part of a concerted drive for increased bargaining power. Brussels and Washington are awaiting the outcome of a European Court case which is set to rule that the US open skies deals struck with EU states conflict with the principle of a single European market.
US Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta says the US will study the likely outcome of the court case but will keep pressing forward with its bilateral approach "until the EC is fully endowed with a mandated position". He says when the court ruling is final, "we'll then have to face the music, but right now we're pressing ahead with all of our negotiations". Susan McDermott, US deputy assistant transportation secretary for aviation and international affairs, says, "nothing is alive until the EC gets its mandate. It is up to them to define their relationship. I don't know if we are going to be galloping toward institution-building."
Calling the proposed TCAA "a concept, a theory, not a negotiating position," she says multilaterals such as the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) pact inked by the US with four Pacific Rim states are "a step forward" for multilaterals. "We think it stands as a very important model. It's a real proposal and, therefore, is perhaps more important than the TCAA."
Source: Airline Business
