The European Commission presented am ambitious package of proposals to boost the international competitiveness of the EU's aviation industry, which include opening negotiations with key partners to access new business opportunities in the fast growing markets, developing new tools to fight unfair competition and creating the right regulatory conditions to stimulate investment.

The European aviation sector – not just the airlines but the entire aeronautical manufacturing industry, airports, air traffic management providers, and other service industries – faces low growth in the EU and intense competition internationally. This is why the European Commission adopted a set of proposals to boost the international competitiveness of the EU's aviation industry. In March 2011, Commission presented its vision for future European aviation sector at the Aerodays 2011.

In particular, the European Commission proposes new agreements with our neighbours and international partners, to conclude EU-level air transport agreements with key and increasingly important aviation partners such as China, Russia, the Gulf States, Japan, India and ASEAN countries in southeast Asia; and to complete, by 2015, EU-level aviation agreements with neighbouring countries such as Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Tunisia, Turkey and Egypt. To move this process more quickly, Member States should grant the Commission a general negotiating mandate for the remaining neighbourhood countries.

The EU considers open markets as the best basis for developing international aviation relations and embraces competition. In order to safeguard fair competition, the Commission is proposing to develop, following consultation with stakeholders, new and more effective EU instruments to protect European interests against unfair practices. In addition, the Commission highlights that current ownership and control restrictions, applied by most countries, deny carriers access to important sources of new capital.