Maxym Burbak: Deadline for signing CAA Agreement with the EU is June 5

posted 24 April 2014 17:16

The Agreement on the European Common Aviation Area (ECAA) between Ukraine and European Union member countries is expected to sign on June 5, 2014 during the meeting of the EU Ministerial Council. Minister of Infrastructure Maxym Burbak told at a briefing at the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.

“We had provided all the documents to our European colleagues but they made corrective amendments, so the agreement wasn’t signed on March 14. However, during a meeting with Jan Tombinski it was agreed that the deadline of this Agreement is June 5, 2014 in the framework of the meeting of the EU Ministerial Council,” Maxym Burbak emphasized.

Moreover, the Ministers told he had hold a roundtable with trade unions, representatives of air companies, the Justice Ministry and the MFA to discuss readiness of the Infrastructure Ministry to signing the CAA Agreement with the EU.

“The branch trade union has certain anxiety that workplaces will be cut in Ukrainian companies after entering European low cost airlines. It won’t happen. The Agreement will come in effect during summer navigation of 2015, and our aviation companies will have time to adapt and be ready to the “open sky”,” Maxym Burbak emphasized.   

According to him, to make the Agreement working through the year Ukraine must coordinate and implement over 100 normative acts, as the document envisages not only access of conveyors from Europe to the domestic market, but also certification of aviation industry. “It means after the Agreement is signed there will be carried out painstaking activity to harmonize our legislation with the European one,” the Minister informed.

Maxym Burbak stressed the Agreement would be profitable for simple Ukrainians as well. “It is expected that the cost of flights in the European direction will drop. We will be working on the issue to make the domestic market of air conveyance functioning with adequate prices. And to make the Agreement working in full, we should obtain a free visa regime,” he said.

Besides, Maxym Burbak informed that he had send a letter to his Israeli counterpart with a request to sign the same deal with Israel, an answer from the U.S.A. concerning the common aviation area is expected.