Europe's No Fly Zone? Rights, Obligations, and Liberalization in Practice

Abstract

Conant's analysis of the air transport sector suggests how and why the European Court of Justice (ECJ) litigation strategy is not always successful for the individual claimant. In particular, the analysis demonstrates that despite the critical role of ECJ air transport litigation brought by individuals throughout the 1970s and 1980s, it was only the legal challenges of EU organizations and major airline carriers, and political mobilization of national executives that ultimately led to liberalization. The first section of the chapter briefly describes the traditionally protected air transport regime in Europe and then identifies legal challenges to restrictions that surfaced during the 1970s and 1980s, traces the evolution of interests in the air transport sector in the 1980s and 1990s, and demonstrates that a shift in political interests was a key component of legal and political pressure for liberalization and institutionalization of the air transport regime at the EU level. The second section assesses the extent to which the air transport market has liberalized and realized the potential benefits of competition, and the third concludes with an evaluation of the relationship between individual action, institutions, and organizations in this sector and other areas of EU law.