Proposal for a COUNCIL DECISION modifying the Decision of the Council and the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States of the European Union, meeting within the Council,on the signing and provisional application of the Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Community and its Member States, on the one part, and the Russian Federation, on the other part, on &quot;Agreed Principles of the Modernisation of the Existing System of Utilisation of the Transsiberian Routes&quot; and on the setting up of an Equalisation Mechanism by the Member States
Date: 2011-09-13
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Russia, air freight rate, air traffic, charges for use of infrastructure, signature of an agreement

EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 13.9.2011 
COM(2011) 545 final 

2011/0236 (NLE) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

modifying the Decision of the Council and the Representatives of the Governments of 
the Member States of the European Union, meeting within the Council, 
on the signing and provisional application of the Agreement in the form of an Exchange 
of Letters between the European Community and its Member States, on the one part, 
and the Russian Federation, on the other part, on "Agreed Principles of the 
Modernisation of the Existing System of Utilisation of the Transsiberian Routes" and on 
the setting up of an Equalisation Mechanism by the Member States 

 
 
  
 
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

1. 

• 

CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 

Grounds for and objectives of the proposal 

On  24 November 2006,  the  Commission  Vice-President  Barrot  and  Mr.  Levitin, 
Transport  Minister  of  the  Russian  Federation,  initialled  an  Agreement  ("Agreed 
Principles  of  the  Modernisation  of  the  existing  system  of  utilisation  of  the 
Transsiberian routes"). On 7 May 2007, the Council formally endorsed this agreement 
and  approved  its  signature  in  form  of  an  Exchange  of  Letters  (Council  Decision 
CS/2007/08202).  Despite  its  previous  commitment,  however,  the  Russian  Federation 
has not signed the Agreement yet.  

The  Commission  has  continuously  addressed  this  issue  with  the  Russian Federation 
over the last years and it has now been agreed to formally sign this agreement over the 
coming months.  

Due to the important delays, two implementation dates of the 2006 Agreement occured 
in  the  past.  To  rectify  this  situation,  the  Commission  has  proposed  to  the 
Russian Federation to adapt these dates before the Agreement is eventually signed. No 
further changes shall be made to the rest of the Agreement.  

• 

General context 

The Agreement shall be signed in due course and in any event in the run-up to Russia's 
upcoming accession to WTO. More precisely, the signature shall take place at the latest 
after the technical work on the WTO accession Working Party Report is completed and 
before the decision on Russia's accession is taken in the WTO General Council.  

• 

Existing provisions in the area of the proposal 

The provisions of Council Decision CS/2007/08202. 

• 

Consistency with the other policies and objectives of the Union 

The  agreement  solves  the  issue  of  Siberian  overflight  payments  requested  by  the 
Russian  Federation  from  EU  carriers  for  overflights  over  Russian  territory  which 
remain an important stumbling block in EU-Russia relations. The payments are an EU-
Russia  trade  irritant  and  must  be  solved  before  Russia's  accession  to  WTO.  The 
agreement  will  strengthen  transport  cooperation  in  the  framework  of  the  EU-Russia 
Common Economic Space. 

2. 

• 

CONSULTATION OF INTERESTED PARTIES AND IMPACT ASSESSMENT 

Consultation of interested parties 

Consultation methods, main sectors targeted and general profile of respondents 

The  proposed  adaptation  of  the  dates  represent  a  minor  change  without  any 

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implications  on  the  substance  of  the  original  Council  Decision.  Nevertheless,  the 
Commission has discussed this with both, representatives of the airline industry and the 
Member States.  

Summary of responses and how they have been taken into account 

The airline industry and the Member State representatives agree with the Commission 
proposal. 

• 

Collection and use of expertise 

There was no need for external expertise. 

• 

Impact assessment 

The signature of the Agreement will significantly improve the competitive situation of 
EU  carriers  on  routes  to  destinations  between  the  EU  and  Asia,  in  particular  Japan, 
China, Hong Kong and South Korea through the gradual reduction of payments in the 
transition period and the abolishment of payments from 2014 onwards. 

Without such an Agreement, EU carriers would have to continue paying for the right to 
transit  the  Russian  Federation  which  would  imply  higher  costs  and  reduced 
competitivity for the airlines. 

The proposed adaptation of the dates is necessary for the signature of the Agreement. 

3. 

• 

LEGAL ELEMENTS OF THE PROPOSAL 

Summary of the proposed action 

Replacement  of implementation dates  that occur in the past by "From  the  first of  the 
month following the signature of the Agreed Principles, (…)". 

• 

Legal basis 

Article 100(2) TFUE, in conjunction with the first sentence of the first subparagraph of 
Article 218(5) TFUE. 

• 

Subsidiarity principle 

Not applicable. 

• 

Proportionality principle 

Not applicable. 

• 

Choice of instruments 

For  the  signature  and  provisional  application  of  an  international  agreement  no  other 
instruments are available. 

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4. 

BUDGETARY IMPLICATION 

The proposal has no implication for the EU budget. 

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2011/0236 (NLE) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

modifying the Decision of the Council and the Representatives of the Governments of 
the Member States of the European Union, meeting within the Council, 
on the signing and provisional application of the Agreement in the form of an Exchange 
of Letters between the European Community and its Member States, on the one part, 
and the Russian Federation, on the other part, on "Agreed Principles of the 
Modernisation of the Existing System of Utilisation of the Transsiberian Routes" and on 
the setting up of an Equalisation Mechanism by the Member States 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION AND THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE 

GOVERNMENTS OF THE MEMBER STATES MEETING WITHIN THE COUNCIL OF 

THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European  Union  and  in  particular 
Article 100(2), in conjunction with Article 218(5), 

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

 By  Council  Decision  CS/2007/08202  of  7 May  2007  (the  "Council  Decision"),  the 
Council authorised the signature and provisional application of the "Agreed Principles 
of the modernisation of the existing system of utilisation of the Transsiberian routes" 
(hereinafter, “the Agreement”) to solve the issue of Siberian overflight payments. This 
shall be done through an exchange of letters;  

 Due  to  unforeseen  delays  in  the  signing  of  the  Agreement,  the  Commission  and  the 
Russian Federation have agreed to adapt some implementation dates of the Agreement 
before it is signed.  

HAVE DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:  

Article 1  

Article  3  of  the  Council  Decision  shall  be  deleted  in  its  entirety  and  replaced  with  the 
following: 

'Pending  its  entry  into  force,  the  Agreement  shall  be  applied  provisionally  by  the 
Union and its Member States, in accordance with the applicable national law, from 
the date of signature of the Agreement.' 

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Annex I of the Council Decision is amended as follows: 

Article 2  

1. 

The second paragraph of Part A ("Letter from the European Union and its Member 
States") shall be deleted in its entirety and replaced with the following: 

'We have the honour to propose that, upon the confirmation of your acceptance, this 
letter  and  its  appendices  together  constitute  an  Agreement  in  the  form  of  an 
Exchange of Letters between the European Union and its Member States, of the one 
part, and the Russian Federation, of the other part. The Agreement shall be applied 
provisionally  by  both  parties,  in  accordance  with  the  application  of  national  law, 
from the date of signature and shall enter into force 10 days after the receipt of the 
later note in an exchange of diplomatic notes between the Parties confirming that all 
necessary procedures for entry into force of the Agreement have been completed.' 

Part B ("Letter from the Russian Federation") shall be amended accordingly. 

2. 

The words "From 1 January 2010" in the first sentence of Article III.2, of Appendix 
1  to  Part  A  ("Agreed  Principles  of  the  Modernisation  of  the  Existing  System  of 
Utilisation  of  the  Trans-Siberian  routes")  shall  be  deleted  and  replaced  with  "From 
the 1st day of the month following the signature of these Agreed Principles". 

Done at Brussels, 

For the Council 
The President 

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