European Union Members Deregulation of the Aviation Industry - Essay Example

The union has a range of initiatives to manage the member states’ activities (Ocana, 2003).
The member states benefit from both internal and external aspects of the single market. Examples of these aspects include free trade of goods and services among member countries, common competition law that controls non-competitive activities of companies, elimination of internal border control, and harmonization of external controls. Additional aspects include citizens’ freedom to live and work in any member state, free capital movement between member states, universal external customs tariff, and a universal position in negotiations involving international trade among others.

Following the European Union members’ deregulation of the aviation industry, which they accomplished in 1997, they abolished all traditional national protectionism, which resulted in a great improvement in the management of air traffic. To establish a safer and more efficient flow of air traffic within Europe, they set up a new system of managing air traffic. One very significant component of this system is the single European sky legislation that the EU launched in 1999 and its institutions adopted in 2004. This legislation involved restructuring the European airspace, which was formally individual national airspaces that individual member states regulated, into a single area regulated by the alliance (EUROPA, 2007).

The single European sky led to the simplification of procedures for controllers of air traffic and pilots as well as fewer handovers where controllers of air traffic manage wider sky expanse while Europe-wide common procedures and rules provide pilots with a flawless service. Minimizing different areas of control enhances faster services and a structure that is far better at dealing with any eventual trouble. The single European sky has also boosted air travel in EU member countries significantly. It has directly provided airlines with quicker and safer services. Consequently, carriers have cut costs. Moreover, by establishing safer skies and more efficient air traffic control, the EU member countries have paved way for their airlines to reduce travel costs (EUROPA, 2007).

All twenty-five member states of the EU enjoy a series of air freedoms that the EU set out on May 1, 2004. They put these freedoms in place to restrict practices that are uncompetitive between airlines and airports. As a result, the routes between and within all member countries irrespective of the airline’s country of origin opened up and carriers from all member states share the right to use airport facilities. European Union also established another regulation that has ensured the liberalization of air cargo rates and airfares that air carriers charge on air services within the European community. This has provided the member countries’ passengers with the liberty or privilege of choosing fares over cost and quality of services instead of being under obligation of using a particular airline from a certain destination (European Movement International, 2007).

The EU has also established joint aviation authorities that institute technical norms and an international civil aviation organization (ICAO), which regulates air space control and security and proposes official binding regulations. It also created the European Aviation safety agency in 2003, which is the centerpiece of its strategy for aviation sustainability and safety. Although each member state is responsible for the expenses linked to the operations and their implementation, they enjoy efficiency in regulation and security.

Following the global environmental deterioration, the European Commission has come up with the European transport policy for 2010 that aims to address the 21st-century global challenge of environmental pollution due to the emission of carbon dioxide, which is facing airlines,s particularly in terms of safety, competitiveness,s and sustainability. The commission has therefore established emission of carbon dioxide limits for all aircraft taking off from airports of any given member state. To protect the customers against overpricing of tickets, the commission has reviewed its regulations where it has abolished discriminatory pricing thereby promoting transparency in pricing (European Movement International, 2007).

Conclusion
The European Union has had and continues to have a great positive impact on the aviation industry and international business in the union’s member states. Manifestly, a fully liberalized aviation market between the European Union and other existing unions both in developed and third-world countries can yield even more enormous economic benefits to EU member states. Read More