The head of the parliament’s transport committee, Karima Delli, said that Qatar could have interfered in the internal discussions of the agreement in the parliament.
The European Parliament will investigate whether Qatar tried to unduly influence a key air transport agreement that gives Qatar Airways unlimited access to the EU market.
According to Politico, the head of the transport committee of the parliament, Karima Delli, said that Qatar could have interfered in the internal discussions of the agreement in the parliament.
“Given recent events, giving consent to this deal at this stage may be difficult until it is established that the terms were transparent and impartial,” Daly said, clarifying that the committee would work with internal investigations of the president of the European Parliament, declassifying documents and statements. “concerning Qatar, if necessary.”
In terms of potentially rejecting the ratification of the agreement concluded last year, she added that the committee should receive instructions from the European Commission “to quickly inform us of the current process of ratification of the aviation agreement between the EU and Qatar and to inform us when the conciliation procedure is expected to start.”
Negotiations between the EU and Qatar:
Aviation talks between the EU and Qatar have come under sharp criticism from European airlines, who fear unfair competition from Qatar Airway’s flights to destinations across Asia, as well as from Qatar Airways’ direct competitor in the Persian Gulf, whose connections to Europe remain limited.
The agreement replaces a series of bilateral agreements and was presented as a way to ensure fair competition and uniform social and labor standards. However, part of the European aviation sector condemned the agreement.
Sanctions against Russia: the situation in aviation
After the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine against Russia, sanctions began to be introduced, which directly affected the aviation industry.
So, as early as March 2022, the aviation giants Boeing and Airbus stopped work in Russia due to the invasion of Ukraine. This led to a shortage of spare parts for aircraft repair in the Russian Federation.
Foreign lessors demanded that Russian airlines return the leased planes. However, Russia refused to do so and essentially stole them from their owners after Vladimir Putin signed a law allowing Russian airlines to use aircraft from foreign lessors despite their ban.
At the end of March, the largest leasing company in the world, AerCap, filed a lawsuit against the Russian Federation for 3.5 billion dollars for stolen planes. And in April, information appeared that the American Air Lease would write off the aircraft remaining in the Russian Federation for more than $800 million.
