The new rules, which were given the final nod by Parliament on 11 March, cover issues ranging from passenger and baggage screening to aircraft security checks and the recruitment and training of staff.
For the first time, in-flight security measures, such as access to cockpits, unruly passengers and so-called "sky marshals" are also dealt with by EU legislation. Nevertheless, the choice of whether to deploy in-flight security officers and whether they should carry weapons on planes has been left up to member states.
The question of costs was also broadly averted by leaving governments the freedom to determine "in which circumstances and to what extent the costs of security measures should be borne by the State, the airport entities, air carriers, other responsible agencies, or users".
MEPs had initially insisted that it be made compulsory for governments to take on at least part of security costs in order to avoid distortions of competition between airports and air carriers in different countries. They also viewed this as a means of ensuring that security measures are carried out to the highest standard in all airports, rather than at the lowest cost. But the idea was rejected by member states.
Instead, the Commission has been asked to produce a common formula for calculating these costs to improve their transparency, as well as to propose steps to ensure that any additional security charges are used exclusively to meet security costs.
EP Transport Committee Chairman and rapporteur on aviation security Paolo Costa said the deal responded to Parliament's "primary concern […] to reinforce air travellers' security without imposing additional costs or uselsess controls on them".
According to the Parliament, a key provision of the agreement is the decision to allow passengers and baggage arriving from third countries with equivalent safety standards to the EU to be exempted from additional checks.
Socialist MEP Saïd El Khadraoui welcomed the move, saying it "could notably reduce the impact of regulations on liquids". Indeed, since the ban on carrying liquids on board planes came into force, MEPs and passengers alike have been complaining about the thousands of litres of alcohol, perfumes and other liquids confiscated in EU airports (EurActiv 6/09/07).
