Estonia seeks to join the European Common Aviation Area

Published: 7/28/1999

A delegation from the Estonian Aviation Department has recently met with officials of the European Union in Brussels, as part of Estonia's wish to become a part of the European Common Aviation Area by 2003. This aim is in line with the European Union's desire that the European Common Aviation Area(ECAA) include countries that are not yet members of the European Union. To this end each of the candidates has to sign a separate agreement with the European Union, which sets out the length of the transition period during which the candidate can bring its legislation into accordance with the requirements of the ECAA. Estonia's representatives said at the meeting that Estonia wanted as short a transition period as possible. After the protocol for Estonia is in force, Estonian airlines will be able to fly to all European Union destinations until the end of 2001.During the second phase of the transition period, which would start in 2002, Estonian carriers will be allowed to fly between destinations in European Union member countries if one leg of the respective flight starts or ends in Estonia. The European Union would like the Common Aviation Area, which was established in 1993, to include the existing European Union members together with Estonia, Bulgaria, Iceland, Lithuania, Latvia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. The 12 countries will soon start bilateral negotiations with the European Union on the length and terms of the transition period. Estonia hopes to be able to sign the bilateral protocol before the end of this year, said a spokesperson for the Aviation Department.

Article ID: 708