Safety checks will be stepped up on European Union registered jetliners in the wake of the August Spanair MD-82 crash at Madrid's Barajas airport that killed 154 people, says the EU's transport commissioner.

In a speech before the EU Parliament, Antonio Tajani said the Transport Commission plans "to look closely at some European airlines". He promised that a minimum number of annual inspections would be made in each Member State and that checks on Europe's airline would be tightened up.

Tajani stressed the importance of the "Safety Assessment of Foreign Aircraft" (SAFA) program, stating that 54% of the planes inspected in the EU in 2007 under this program belonged to European companies. Last year a total of 7376 runway inspections were made, nearly double the number in 2004 (3993).

He also emphasized the need to review existing Community legislation on air safety, giving two examples: the 1994 directive establishing fundamental principles governing the investigation of civil aviation accidents and incidents, and the June 2003 directive on occurrence reporting in civil aviation.

Tajani spoke of the Commission's planned legislation on a Single European Sky, which will strengthen the powers of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) over procedures for certifying airport safety and granting pilot licenses. It will also enable the EASA to work more closely with national aviation authorities when investigating accidents.

Tajani said the Air Safety Committee is to meet on Nov. 5 to update the so-called airline blacklist and he confirmed that inspections of Community airlines will be beefed up. At present none of the banned companies on the blacklist is European.

The Aug. 20 crash during takeoff was Spain's worst air crash in 25 years, with only 18 survivors. A report in the Wall Street Journal said wing flaps that provide extra lift had failed to extend.