ABSTRACT
This Chapter examines the legislative background to the formulation process of the Proposal for the ground-handling Directive, and the attempted formulation for a Regulation on slot-allocation. The issues of ground-handling and slot-allocation are integral to the process of the liberalisation of the European Union air transport market since the Nouvelles Frontieres case, where the European Court of Justice confirmed the applicability of the European Commission (EC) Treaty competition rules to air transport. The EC issued a memorandum9 in July 1979 recognising the need to apply Articles 85 and 86 of the EC Treaty to the air transport sector. Although US de-regulation and the completion of the Single European Act provided facultative conditions for air transport liberalisation to take place, it was, however, Nouvelles Frontieres, which provided the key necessary ingredient for the Commission to realise its powers in this area. The sea resulted in most related industrial policy having to be formulated by Qualified Majority Vote, rather than unanimity.
