Fair Competition in the Context of EU External Relations: A Redoubled Effort for a Level Playing Field

In the highly fragmented regulatory context of fair competition in international aviation, the EU published Regulation 868/2004, which, despite its best intentions of protecting EU carriers from unfair practices, has been deemed ineffective. A decade later in 2015, the EU Commission published a new strategy for aviation which included the aim to establish a level playing field on two grounds, that is, the revision of EU Regulation 868/2004 and the promotion of EU competition values in comprehensive air transport agreements (CATAs) of the EU with third countries. This article evaluates EU Regulation 712/2019 revising and repealing EU Regulation 868/2004. In evaluating the EU strategy, special attention is given to the interplay of said Regulation with the first post -2015 comprehensive agreement signed between the EU and Qatar.