Memo: Background Note: The ‘Open Skies’ Court cases

On 8 May 2001 an oral hearing took place before the European Court of Justice on the legal cases brought by the Commission against seven countries that have concluded bilateral 'Open Skies' agreements with the United States in the field of air transport (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Luxembourg, Sweden), as well as against the United Kingdom, which has also opened its market to the US carriers in the Bermuda II agreement. The cases were originally submitted to the Court in December 1998 and written submissions in which the parties set out their arguments have been exchanged.