The committee adopted the report by Jörg LEICHTFRIED (PES, AT) amending - under the 1st reading of the codecision procedure - the proposed regulation establishing a European Aviation Safety Agency. The main amendments were as follows:
- if a Member State or the Agency obtains information calling into question the validity of certificates issued by a Member State, they should immediately communicate their findings to the other Member States and to the Commission;
- the provisions on protecting sources of information were modified slightly so as to specify that, in the case of information provided to a national authority, "the source of such information shall be protected in accordance with national legislation". Where information is provided to the Commission or the Agency, "the source of such information shall not be revealed";
- new provisions were introduced giving the Agency the power to impose "dissuasive and proportionate" fines and periodic penalty payments if safety standards are not correctly implemented;
- Parliament should be consulted on appointments to the EASA Management Board;
- in order to ensure the Agency's complete independence, it may not receive any financial contribution from Member States, third countries or other entities (the Commission's original proposal would have allowed this).