The Siberian Overflights issue

In late 2010 and early 2011, the European Commission launched infringement procedures against most of its Member States over their bilateral air services agreements with the Russian Federation. The Commission's concerns are essentially related to two elements: the lack of the "EU designation clause" in these agreements and the fact that they contain provisions that may lead, in breach of EU law, to anti-competitive effects. With regard to the second element, the European Commission refers in particular to the practice of EU and Asian air carriers to pay, in excess of regular charges, in order to fly over Siberia on their routes to and from Asian destinations. The practice of the "Siberian overflights payments" has been an object of long and heated debate and raises many doubts over its legality under public international air law. With its latest actions, the European Commission has brought new attention to the issue of the "Siberian royalties" by taking legal action on the basis of their anti-competitive effects. On the basis of the assumption that examining the legal discussion surrounding this practice can callow a better comprehension of the Commission's latest actions, as well as their possible outcomes, this article aims to give a general overview of the legal issues arising from the Siberian overflights payments. To this end, both the legality of the practice under public international law and the new legal "question marks" related to the European Commission's infringement proceeding are attentively assessed.