NOTING that this Agreement implies the exchange of personal data, which will be subject to the data protection legislation of the Contracting Parties and of the Commission Decision of 31 January 2011 pursuant to Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the adequate protection of personal data by the State of Israel with regard to automated processing of personal data (2011/61/EU);

INTENDING to build upon the framework of existing air transport agreements with the goal of opening access to markets and maximising benefits for the consumers, air carriers, labour, and communities of the Contracting Parties;

NOTING that this Agreement is to be applied in a progressive but integral way, and that a suitable mechanism can ensure the establishment of equivalent regulatory requirements and standards for civil aviation based on the highest standards applied by the Contracting Parties;

HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

Definitions

For the purposes of this Agreement, unless otherwise provided:

(1) "Agreed services" and "specified routes" mean international air transport pursuant to Article 2 and Annex I of this Agreement;

(2) "Agreement" means this Agreement, its Annexes, and any amendments thereto;

(3) "Air carrier" means an undertaking with a valid operating licence;

(4) "Air transport" means the carriage by civil aircraft of passengers, baggage, cargo, and mail, separately or in combination, held out to the public for remuneration or hire, which, for the avoidance of doubt, shall include scheduled and non-scheduled (charter) air transport, and full cargo services;

(5) "Association Agreement" means the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement establishing an association between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the State of Israel, of the other part, signed at Brussels on 20 November 1995;

(6) "Competent authorities" means the government agencies or entities responsible for the administrative functions under this Agreement;

(7) "Contracting Parties" means, on the one hand, the European Union or its Member States, or the European Union and its Member States, in accordance with their respective powers, and, on the other hand, Israel;

(8) "Convention" means the Convention on International Civil Aviation, opened for signature at Chicago on 7 December 1944, and includes:

(a) any amendment that has entered into force under Article 94(a) of the Convention and has been ratified by both Israel and the Member State or Member States of the European Union, and

(b) any Annex or any amendment thereto adopted under Article 90 of the Convention, insofar as such Annex or amendment is at any given time effective for both Israel and the Member State or Member States of the European Union as is relevant to the issue in question;

(9) "EU Treaties" mean the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union;

(10) "Fifth freedom right" means the right or privilege granted by one state (the "Granting State") to the air carriers of another state ("the Recipient State"), to provide international air transport services between the territory of the Granting State and the territory of a third state, subject to the condition that such services originate or terminate in the territory of the Recipient State;

(11) "Fitness" means whether an air carrier is fit to operate international air services, that is to say, whether it has satisfactory financial capability and adequate managerial expertise and is disposed to comply with the laws, regulations and requirements which govern the operation of such services;

(12) "Full cost" means the cost of providing service plus a reasonable charge for administrative overhead and where relevant any applicable charges aimed at reflecting environmental costs and applied without distinction as to nationality;