On December 9, 2008, Canada and the European Union successfully
concluded negotiations on a landmark Comprehensive Air Transport
Agreement ("the Agreement"). The negotiations had
commenced in November 2007 and the Agreement will come into effect
in the first half of 2009.
This Agreement is the latest agreement pursued as part of
Canada's Blue Sky international air policy. The purpose of the
Blue Sky policy is to negotiate increasingly liberalized
international air transport agreements. Canada currently has
bilateral agreements with 19 of the 27 European Union Member
States. A single regime will now govern Canada's air transport
relations with every member of the European Union.
The Canada-EU Agreement is more far-reaching and open than any
similar pact that the EU or Canada has with other countries. Canada
and the EU have agreed to remove restrictions on direct flights
between Canada and EU Member States and ultimately to remove
restrictions on foreign ownership of