Text tabled : A7-0347/2011

  Maria do Céu Patrão Neves (PPE), in writing. – (PT) This report concerns the air services operated between the European Union and Jordan. There has been a horizontal air services agreement with Jordan since 2008, which has enabled the harmonisation of these bilateral agreements with European Union law. However, the Commission recently negotiated a comprehensive agreement that is much more ambitious and replaces all the bilateral agreements by creating a Euro-Mediterranean aviation area between the European Union and Jordan. The agreement establishes uniform conditions for the air carriers of the 27 Member States, from which they all benefit regardless of nationality. In this context, the European Union’s air carriers will be able to provide their services from any point in the European Union and Jordan, whereas, to date, provision of these services has been conditional on, for example, the existence of bilateral agreements between each Member State and Jordan. As this is an agreement with objectives that are positive overall, such as gradual market opening in terms of capacity and access to routes on a reciprocal basis, and non-discrimination and a level playing field for economic operators based on the principles laid down in the EU Treaties, I voted for this report.