Proposal for a Council Decision on the position to be taken by the European Union in the EEA Joint Committee concerning an amendment to Annex XIII (Transport)

In order to ensure the requisite legal security and homogeneity of the Internal Market, the EEA Joint Committee is to integrate all the relevant Community legislation into the EEA Agreement as soon as possible after its adoption.

The draft Decision of the EEA Joint Committee (annexed to the proposed Council Decision) aims to amend Annex XIII (Transport) by adding new Community acquis in this field. This concerns Regulation (EC) No 1008/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 September 2008 on common rules for the operation of air services in the Community (Recast) which is to be incorporated into the Agreement.

This decision aims to transpose the common rules on the operation of air services while allowing for EEA-wide licences to be granted by EFTA States under the condition that the respective third country agreement is approved by the EEA Joint Committee. This decision is also providing a 5 year time limit for public service obligations for regional airports in Iceland and the four northernmost counties in Norway the same way as the outermost regions referred to in Article 349 TFEU because these areas generally hold route areas that can be considered as equally peripheral to the outermost regions of the EU.

The Commission submits the Draft Decision of the EEA Joint Committee for adoption by the Council as the Union’s position. The Commission would hope to be able to present it in the EEA Joint Committee at the earliest possible opportunity.

EUR-Lex: COM(2011)378: Follow the progress of this document through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2011:378:FIN

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