EU official says air treaties with US at risk = = = = Monday May 10, 7:46 PM EDT = By John Crawley WASHINGTON, May 10 (Reuters) - The United States must show a willingness = now to grant foreign airlines and overseas investors much greater access = or risk action by the European Union to cancel crucial aviation treaties,= EU Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio said on Monday. "You can't remain like this indefinitely," de Palacio told reporters as E= U and U.S. negotiators began a fifth round of talks on a landmark trans-A= tlantic aviation pact with election-year politics increasing pressure for= a deal this summer. The negotiations have snagged over the Bush administration's refusal to e= mbrace European proposals that foreign investors be allowed to hold major= ity equity stakes in American carriers and that European airlines be give= n access to U.S. domestic routes. = Current regulations allow foreign investors to hold 25 percent voting sto= ck in an American airline. The Bush administration has offered to raise t= hat to 49 percent but has refused to consider letting overseas airlines o= perate a domestic U.S. service. Both changes, which would require congressional action, are fiercely oppo= sed by labor unions and some airlines. Some lawmakers are also reluctant = to expand foreign ownership and operating rights for security reasons. De Palacio said she would tell Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta on = Tuesday that her patience was thin. She said Europe would likely accept a limited deal on security, safety an= d other issues advanced by the State and Transportation Departments, if t= here was a firm commitment to explore the more contentious matters in fut= ure talks. "If this fails, I am ready to ask the member states to denounce the actua= l agreements, the 'open skies' agreements. I am ready to ask them if they= don't think that the proposed agreement is enough or a balanced one," de= Palacio said. The United States has "open skies" treaties with 15 of the 25 nations in = the EU, including France, Germany, and Italy. These permit a full range o= f reciprocal trans-Atlantic passenger and cargo services. The other 10 EU countries, including Britain, have limited aviation agree= ments. Jeffrey Shane, a Transportation Department undersecretary, said scrapping= aviation treaties would be a mistake partly because it would undo the ai= rline alliances that had become the backbone of transatlantic service. "To sacrifice a package over the concessions that de Palacio is looking f= or is regrettable," Shane said. "It's just bad policy." Shane said the Bush administration had offered a groundbreaking deal, inc= luding a proposal to improve access for European airlines by lifting a re= striction that permits them to offer transatlantic service only from thei= r home country. "There is a very important package on the table right now which would rep= resent an enormous ramp-up in the quality of competition in the trans-Atl= antic market," Shane said. = =A92004 Reuters Limited. = Roger EWROPS