UK Transport Secretary Hoon on U.S./EC Aviation Relations

The United Kingdom's Secretary of State for Transport Geoff Hoon spoke at the International Aviation Club in Washington, D.C. yesterday.  In his remarks (available online here), Hoon outlined a three-step process for progress to be made in U.S./EC aeropolitical relations:

Step one is a commitment to complete stage two of the EU/U.S. Open Skies negotiations by June 2010, with the headline objective of liberalising all foreign ownership in airlines to give European and American air carriers a bigger home market and the ability to operate like any other competitive international company;

Step two is a commitment to enhance open markets in aerospace products and related services, ending the talk of banning the use of foreign maintenance facilities and allowing a long awaited mutual recognition agreement between the EU and U.S. to come into force;

Step three is an agreement between the EU and U.S. on a clear approach to climate change in aviation, involving new fuel efficiency standards and meaningful global emissions goals.

Further comment on Secretary Hoon's remarks will be forthcoming on the blog.