Vietnam and EC initial agreement on certain aspects of air services
Vietnam and the European Commission (EC) on March 7 initialled a bilateral agreement on Certain Aspects of Air Services (CAAS) in Hanoi on March 7, strengthening non-discriminatory access to air routes between Vietnam and European Union member states for their air carriers.
The eight-article agreement aims to establish a sound legal basis for air services between the European Community and Vietnam, and to ensure the continuity of such air services, the EC delegation in Vietnam said.
According to the new agreement, air carriers which are established in the territory of the EU member states, under the regulatory control of member states or owned by member states or their nationals are entitled to access air routes between relevant EU member states and Vietnam, without discrimination on the ground of nationality.
Addressing the initialling ceremony, Nguyen Tien Sam, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Transport, said: “The initialling of this agreement paves the way for the formal signing of a bilateral EU-VN Horizontal Agreement that would substantially consolidate the traditional co-operation on civil aviation in a more liberal way.”
“The agreement would offer more favourable conditions for the EU’s carriers to access air routes between EU member states and Vietnam in the context of establishment of the EU’s single aviation market and Vietnam’s strengthening of the co-operation and integration process,” he added.
The European Commission is conducting negotiations on such agreements with all its partners, and has already initialled 22 CAASs. It is seeking to conclude similar agreements with all ASEAN countries. Vietnam is the third ASEAN member to finalize negotiations with the EC.
Vietnam News Agency - March 9, 2006.
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