The European Parliament adopted a resolution drafted by Frieda BREPOELS and reinstated a number of amendments made at first reading. (Please see the summary of 21/03/2006.) (EPP-ED, BE) amending the Council's common position. In particular, Parliament deleted the Council’s text on intellectual property rights, which allowed public authorities to restrict access to certain geographical and environmental information, and reverted to the Commission’s initial proposal on this issue. It further stated that member states shall ensure that the targeted services are available to the public free of charge. Access to information must be guaranteed, not only to research institutions but also for consultation purposes. Where charges are made, the total income from supplying documents shall not exceed the cost of collection, production, reproduction and dissemination.
Finally, Parliament felt that it is crucially important that in federal states, bearing in mind the constitutional distribution of powers, coordination structures should be set up to ensure that the Directive can be implemented effectively.