Mr President, I too should like to express my condolences in respect of the victims of the aircraft accident in Egypt. People are concerned; in my region, too, there is an airport that apparently has been, or is being, used by this airline company, so it is obvious that we need to know whether the assessment of all aircraft that fly in the EU is positive or not. We have Mrs Maes’ report on third-country aircraft, in which, fortunately, we demand such things as our own inspections, the possibility of keeping aircraft on the ground and of exchanging information between Member States. We have now reached the conciliation stage, and I hope that we can make use of this conciliation to tighten things up to some extent. One of the questions that arose after the accident in Egypt is: what do we tell the public, what is intended for the public domain? It is clear that the Council has toned down the questions that Parliament had on that score. I would like to ask the Council, in the light of recent events, to revisit this issue. It is evident that we do not throw just any piece of information into the public domain, for then it will lead a life of its own. If, however, an airline company is banned from a country, surely people are entitled to know this, so that they can avoid using this airline in future. I think that we should have clear rules in this respect. I have read that a law is to be adopted in France according to which tour operators are to be required to tell customers which company will be used for the trip, so that people know with whom they are flying. I think that passengers have a right to this, and if there were to be an imputation in respect of a company, then customers can establish that link themselves. Why could that not become EU law? I have also read that the American Federal Aviation Administration is examining the quality of inspections in third countries, or what Mr Simpson termed the role of the flag state. This reminds me of safety in shipping. Do we actually have control over the quality of the flag state? Could we not do what the Americans are doing? I think that the quality offered by ICAO is sound, but we should apply our own systems and do as the Americans are doing. It is, in my view, not a bad idea for us as Europeans to go and have a look over there whether the quality standards are being respected. Finally, I have read that there are quite a few differences between national inspections, and that one country is somewhat stricter than the other, or at least makes assessments on a different basis. I should like to see flight bans established everywhere on the same basis – after all, one flight ban can be too strict, while another not strict enough. In any case, we now have a European Aviation Safety Agency, and it might be useful if an independent audit were to be carried out on the different ways in which Member States assess the safety of aircraft. I hope – Commissioner, Mr President, Mrs Maes and other Members who were involved in this conciliation – that we can use the conciliation procedure relating to your report in order to ensure that the points which Parliament pressed home in the light of recent events – and unfortunately, our decision-making is often, if not too often, disaster-driven – will be emphasised. Mrs Maes, I hope that you, together with the Members of this House, will be able to salvage a few things yet.

Political group: ELDR