U.S. and EU representatives plan to meet in Brussels in the week of March 22 for what they hope will be the decisive round of talks on a second-stage transatlantic Open Skies agreement.

Negotiators “will really try to drive home a deal” during this eighth round of discussions, said John Byerly, U.S. State Dept. deputy assistant secretary for transportation affairs. There was also optimism that the last round, held in Madrid last month, would produce an agreement. This did not occur, but the two sides made progress on several fronts.

Although there are still major issues the U.S. and EU cannot agree on, they are expected to essentially leave these out of the second-stage deal. Instead, incentives would be included to encourage these concerns to be revisited later. The Europeans want relaxation of U.S. ownership and control rules, while the U.S. is concerned about the European approach to noise limits at airports.

European transport ministers are scheduled to discuss the U.S.-EU negotiations today, and this meeting could determine whether they will accept the incentives approach. If they approve, industry observers believe it is very likely the March 22 round could yield the initial text of an agreement.