The European Parliament adopted a resolution drafted by Sharon Bowles (ALDE, UK) and made some amendments to the proposal:
- changes are proposed that update the references to relevant Council Regulations and to clarify that the provision of preliminary results on a regular basis, as is currently the practice, will be maintained in order to keep the freshest possible figures available;
- a new recital states that Member States are encouraged to produce data for regional PPPs;
- a maximum time period of one month for Member States to provide written approval of the survey results once they have been validated is introduced in order to avoid delay;
- the minimum frequencies given for collection of data should not be increased without good reason, so as not to cause excessive burden. One amendment states, therefore, that data shall be collected with the minimum frequency provided in Annex I. More frequent collection of data shall be planned only in exceptional and justified circumstance;
- "Item" means a good or service precisely defined for use in price observation;
- the new comitology procedures will apply. The Commission will have the power to adapt the definitions, to adjust the basic headings in Annex II and to define quality criteria. Since those measures are of general scope and designed to amend non-essential elements or supplement the Regulation by the addition of new non-essential elements, they will be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny laid down in Article 5a of Council Decision 1999/468/EC.
- to provide maximum transparency, interim figures and assessment and compliance reports are to be made available on website;
- on financing, a new clause provides that Member States shall receive from the Commission a financial contribution of a maximum of 70% of the costs eligible under the Commission's grant rules. The amount of such financial contribution shall be fixed as part of the annual budgetary procedures of the European Union. The budget authority shall determine the appropriations available each year.