The European Commission has formally notified U.S. authorities of its request for arbitration over a dispute centering on Norwegian Air International's application to fly to the U.S. from Europe, officially accusing Washington of breaching the EU-US Air Transport Agreement (ATA), or so-called Open Skies agreement. The Irish subsidiary of Norwegian Air Shuttle, which already flies to the U.S. under its Norwegian air operator certificate, applied for rights to fly to the States in December 2013. Under pressure from U.S. major airlines to deny the application due to what they consider NAI’s unfair labor practices, U.S. authorities have delayed issuing a foreign operators permit far beyond the customary timeframe, according to the EC.

“The Commission and the EU Member States share the view that the failure of the U.S. authorities to act on this request made in 2013 constitutes a breach of the EU-US Air Transport Agreement,” said Anna-Kaisa Itkonen, EC spokesperson in charge of transport. “The Commission informed the U.S. authorities of this position already in November 2014 and regrets that no suitable solution could be found despite intensive discussions at all levels. The Commission acted in good faith during this process and still invites the U.S. authorities to comply with the EU-US Air Transport Agreement in order to reach an amicable solution.”

The ATA calls for “swift” authorization or denial of permission to fly, and common practice shows that the relevant authorities typically need less than 60 days to render a decision, according to a commission source familiar with the proceedings. The EC notified the U.S. authorities of its concerns at a Joint Committee meeting in 2014 and during several JC meetings between June 10, 2014 and April 19, 2016, raised the issue again. According to the source, the U.S. delegation has not replied “in substance.”

Article 19 of the Air Transport Agreement calls for the U.S. to designate its arbitrator within 20 days. The EC has named Italian professor Giorgio Sacerdoti as its arbitrator.