EU and Georgia start negotiations on a Common Aviation Area Agreement

Delegations from Georgia and the European Union meet on 6/7 October 2009 in Tbilisi / Georgia for the first round of negotiations on a comprehensive aviation agreement between both sides.

The European Commission received a mandate to negotiate a “Common Aviation Area” Agreement with Georgia in June 2009, following its proposal to open negotiations at the beginning of that year.

The agreement aims at mutually opening the respective markets and at integrating Georgia into European aviation structures. Georgia will harmonise its legislation with European standards and implement a large part of the EU's aviation rules. The agreement will be a further step in creating a wider Common Aviation Area between the EU and its neighbours.

Similar agreements have been concluded already between the EU and the Western Balkan countries and between the EU and Morocco. Currently, the EU is negotiating such agreements also with Ukraine, Jordan and Israel.

The new comprehensive aviation agreement would be an important step towards strengthening aviation relations between the two partners. Passenger and cargo traffic between the EU and Georgia have significantly increased since 2004 with a growth of around 14 percentage points per year.