Under a proposal by EU lawmakers, the EU's Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) would gain the power to levy fines against aircraft manufacturers and equipment suppliers for breaching safety rules. This power was debated Monday by the European Parliament in Strasbourg in a bill destined to expand the role of the European Aviation Safety Agency. The long-term plan is that EASA would be made the direct equivalent of the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). In order to ultimately null out disparities in safety standards across the bloc, the EU is undergoing a piecemeal centralization of aviation regulation. EASA was created in 2002, is based in Cologne and amongst its responsibilities it inspects national aviation authorities in the 27 country bloc and drafts rules for airworthiness and maintenance. National authorities retain responsibility for the licensing of pilots and direct oversight of their country's airlines.

There were no financial details of the fines, beyond saying they should be "dissuasive and proportionate" and spelt out in amplifying regulations. Fines under the FAA's system usually tend to be negotiable depending upon the contrition and past behavior of the individual offender. Fines against individuals in some administrations tend to be defined in "penalty units" - with the value of a penalty unit rising over time with inflation. The measure is also undeniably a revenue raising exercise, as well as an incentivator. Some Eastern Bloc EU members have an ongoing problem with old Soviet equipment that will take years to resolve. Most of those countries have unilaterally banned their affected fleets from operating into the EU at large. The EU blacklist has always proven much harder to get off than to get onto.