The European Commission on Wednesday defended the «transparency» with which negotiations were conducted on the aviation agreement that Brussels concluded last year on behalf of the EU-27 with Qatar, a pact with which the EU claims to want to ensure fair competition between airlines but which MEPs are now calling for a re-examination after the corruption scheme for the payment of bribes.
«The negotiations, with close involvement of the EU-27, were made to achieve a level playing field in aviation relations, with provisions to protect fair competition,» said EU transport spokesman Stefan de Keersmaecker.
He also stressed that the European Parliament was informed at all times of the progress of the negotiation and stressed that the talks listened to both European governments and interest groups, users and airlines «with full transparency». In any case, concluded De Keersmaecker, it is up to the EU-27 to decide whether or not to ratify the agreement.
Brussels frames this agreement in the European strategy for aviation designed in 2015 and that seeks to «ensure the best possible connectivity between travelers and companies with security,» said the spokesman, who has insisted that the Community Executive requested the EU countries in 2015 mandate to negotiate it and obtained such permission in 2016.
The agreement was concluded in October 2021 but is still in the middle of the ratification process, a lengthy procedure that must pass through all national parliaments before the plenary of the European Parliament also ratifies it. So far, only six countries – Austria, Latvia, Greece, Ireland, Estonia and the Czech Republic – have ratified the agreement with Qatar, EU sources told Europa Press.
The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, announced during this week’s plenary session that the report to endorse the exemption of visas to Qatar that was in the process of adoption will be reviewed in the light of information on the alleged payment of bribes by representatives of this country to MEPs and assistants to gain political and economic weight in the EU.
The institution has also decided to suspend all work and votes that may be related to Qatar until the investigation in Belgium clarifies the facts and the plenary is preparing to adopt a resolution to ask to veto the entry of Qatari diplomats to the institution.
In this context, the chairwoman of the Transport and Tourism Committee, Green MEP Karima Delli, has informed the various groups of her intention to ask the European Commission for explanations on how this agreement was negotiated and to request the declassification of all conversations on Qatar at the coordinators’ meetings that the investigators require.
«In view of recent events, giving consent to this agreement at this time may be difficult until it is established that the conditions were transparent and impartial,» says Delli, in a communication sent to MEPs on the committee and accessed by Europa Press.
