Plea for EU to relax competition rules / EU urged to relax competition rules

European airlines want the European Commission to relax antitrust rules and to drop a number of pending pieces of legislation as they face the economic backlash following the terrorist attacks in the United States. The heads of three big European airlines met European transport commissioner, Loyola de Palacio, on 20 September 2001, to impress on her the need for a cohesive European response. The Bush administration is expected to approve a multi-billion dollar emergency aid package for US airlines. The Association of European Airlines want the Commission to relax competition rules so that rival carriers on the same routes can negotiate capacity reductions and co-ordinate flight schedules.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1554589.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1554589.stm

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