Air transport liberalisation in the European community 1987-1992 : A case of integration

Abstract: Commercial aviation in the European Community was regulated by a system based on bilateral negotiations until the late 1980s. Regulation ensured that airlines did not compete. The lack of competition conflicted with the aim of the Treaty of Rome of having a common economic market. The regulatory system which governed aviation within the EC, had, by 1993, been replaced by a Single Market for aviation.The United Kingdom in an alliance with the European Commission took the lead in seeking to liberalise the system. The objective of this study is to examine the mechanisms through which liberalisation was achieved.This study is, in the main, based on interviews conducted by the author with the negotiators involved in the liberalisation from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the Commission.A series of cases in the European Court of Justice created a window of opportunity which the British and Commission negotiators exploited. The Commission adopted a two-pronged approach. They threatened the Member States with legal action at the same time as they offered an incremental process of liberalisation.This study finds that the legal framework was vital to the process of integration. This study also finds that leadership, the Presidency, the Single European Act, and the changes that took place in national preferences are important to understanding the liberalisation process.Grand theory cannot explain the liberalisation of air transport. Instead, game theory, in combination with process tracing, is used in this study to explain the liberalisation of European air transport.