Hortatory language in EU Comprehensive Air Transport Agreements—when Darwin met strategy

This article examines the evolution of hortatory language in the European Union (EU) Comprehensive Air Transport Agreements that fall under the third pillar of the EU External Aviation Policy. These are the Agreements with the USA, Canada, Qatar, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The analysis reveals how the calibration of the wording of these Agreements through a process of trial and error, in combination with the role of the Parties’ Joint Committee in the implementation of these Agreements, work synergistically towards the gradual hardening of hortatory language. The article further assesses the potential of these Agreements to establish a level playing field in international aviation. It reveals how, by means of lateral thinking, the EU has depoliticized the charged issue of the liberalization of international air transport by shifting the focus to the playing field and requesting that it be level.