PURPOSE: to conclude the Agreement on certain aspects of air services between the European Union and the United Mexican States.

NON-LEGISLATIVE ACT: Council Decision 2011/709/EU on the conclusion of the Agreement on certain aspects of air services between the European Union and the United Mexican States.

CONTENT: on 5 June 2003, the Council authorised the Commission to open negotiations with third countries on the replacement of certain provisions in existing bilateral agreements with an agreement at Union level.

On behalf of the Union, the Commission has negotiated an Agreement on certain aspects of air services with the United Mexican States in accordance with the mechanisms and directives in the Annex to the Council Decision of 5 June 2003.

The Agreement was signed on behalf of the Union on 15 December 2010, subject to its conclusion at a later date.

By this Decision, the Agreement on certain aspects of air services between the European Union and the United Mexican States is hereby approved on behalf of the Union.

ENTRY INTO FORCE: 20/10/2011.

The European Parliament adopted a legislative resolution on the draft Council decision on the conclusion of the Agreement on certain aspects of air services between the European Union and the United Mexican States.

Parliament gave its consent to the conclusion of the Agreement.

The Committee on Transport and Tourism unanimously adopted the report drafted by Silvia-Adriana ŢICĂU (S&D, EL) in which it recommends the European Parliament to give its consent to the conclusion of the Agreement on certain aspects of air services between the European Union and the United Mexican States.

PURPOSE: to conclude the Agreement on certain aspects of air services between the European Union and the United Mexican States.

PROPOSED ACT: Council Decision.

IMPACT ASSESSMENT: no impact assessment was carried out.

LEGAL BASIS: 100(2) in conjunction with Article 218(6)(a) and the first subparagraph of Article 218(8) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

BACKGROUND: following the judgements of the Court of Justice in the so-called “Open Skies” cases, on 5 June 2003 the Council granted the Commission a mandate to open negotiations with third countries on the replacement of certain provisions in existing agreements with a Community agreement (the “horizontal mandate”). The objectives of such agreements are to give all EU air carriers non-discriminatory access to routes between the Community and third countries, and to bring bilateral air service agreements between Member States and third countries in line with Community law.

CONTENT: in accordance with the mechanisms and directives in the Annex to the ”horizontal mandate”, the Commission has negotiated an agreement with Mexico that replaces certain provisions in the existing bilateral air services agreements between Member States and the United Mexican States.

Article 2 of the Agreement replaces the traditional designation clauses with a Community designation clause, permitting all Community carriers to benefit from the right of establishment. Article 4 deals with the taxation of aviation fuel, a matter which has been harmonised by Council Directive 2003/96/EC restructuring the Community framework for the taxation of energy products and electricity, and in particular Article 14 (2) thereof. Article 5 (Pricing) resolves conflicts between the existing bilateral air services agreements and Council Regulation No 2409/92 on fares and rates for air services which prohibits third country carriers from being price leaders on air services for carriage wholly within the Community. Article 6 resolves potential conflicts with the EC competition rules.

The Agreement was signed on behalf of the Union on 15 December 2010, pending its conclusion at a later date. It is now appropriate to approve the Agreement on behalf of the Union.

BUDGETARY IMPLICATION: this proposal has no implications for the EU budget.

PURPOSE: to conclude the Agreement on certain aspects of air services between the European Union and the United Mexican States.

PROPOSED ACT: Council Decision.

IMPACT ASSESSMENT: no impact assessment was carried out.

LEGAL BASIS: 100(2) in conjunction with Article 218(6)(a) and the first subparagraph of Article 218(8) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

BACKGROUND: following the judgements of the Court of Justice in the so-called “Open Skies” cases, on 5 June 2003 the Council granted the Commission a mandate to open negotiations with third countries on the replacement of certain provisions in existing agreements with a Community agreement (the “horizontal mandate”). The objectives of such agreements are to give all EU air carriers non-discriminatory access to routes between the Community and third countries, and to bring bilateral air service agreements between Member States and third countries in line with Community law.

CONTENT: in accordance with the mechanisms and directives in the Annex to the ”horizontal mandate”, the Commission has negotiated an agreement with Mexico that replaces certain provisions in the existing bilateral air services agreements between Member States and the United Mexican States.

Article 2 of the Agreement replaces the traditional designation clauses with a Community designation clause, permitting all Community carriers to benefit from the right of establishment. Article 4 deals with the taxation of aviation fuel, a matter which has been harmonised by Council Directive 2003/96/EC restructuring the Community framework for the taxation of energy products and electricity, and in particular Article 14 (2) thereof. Article 5 (Pricing) resolves conflicts between the existing bilateral air services agreements and Council Regulation No 2409/92 on fares and rates for air services which prohibits third country carriers from being price leaders on air services for carriage wholly within the Community. Article 6 resolves potential conflicts with the EC competition rules.

The Agreement was signed on behalf of the Union on 15 December 2010, pending its conclusion at a later date. It is now appropriate to approve the Agreement on behalf of the Union.

BUDGETARY IMPLICATION: this proposal has no implications for the EU budget.

The Lisbon Treaty, which entered into force on 1 December 2009, amended the EU's two core treaties, the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and the Treaty establishing the European Community (EC Treaty). The latter was renamed the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).

These changes had various consequences for many ongoing procedures. First of all, the articles of the TEU and of the old EC Treaty that constitute the legal basis of all the proposals founded on those Treaties were renumbered in accordance with the table of equivalences mentioned in Article 5 of the Lisbon Treaty.

In addition, some proposals underwent a change to their legal basis going beyond a mere change to their numbering, and this resulted in changes to the type of procedure .

The Lisbon Treaty also introduced new concepts of decision-making procedure . The old "codecision procedure" was extended to new areas and renamed the "ordinary legislative procedure". A new "consent procedure" replaced the old "assent procedure". New interinstitutional procedures were also set up for the adoption of certain non-legislative acts, for example the conclusion of some international agreements.

The ongoing proposals concerned by these changes were formally modified by the Commission in a Communication published on 2 December 2009 (COM(2009)0665).

In the case of the proposal for a Council Decision on the conclusion of the Agreement on certain aspects of air services between the European Community and the United Mexican States, the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty had the following impacts :

· the old legal basis – Treaty/EC/Art.80(2), Art.300(2) first para and (3) first para. - became Art 100(2), Art 218 (6)(a) of the TFEU. Please note that the numbering of the old legal basis corresponds to the consolidated version of the Treaty that was applicable immediately before the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, and may differ from the references in the original Commission proposal ;

· the proposal, which had previously fallen under the old consultation procedure (CNS), was classified as an interinstitutional non-legislative procedure (NLE).