The Commission, acting in cooperation with the appropriate authority of the Member State concerned, shall conduct inspections, including inspections of airports, operators and entities applying aviation security standards, in order to monitor the application by Member States of this Regulation and, as appropriate, to make recommendations to improve aviation security. For this purpose, the appropriate authority shall inform the Commission in writing of all airports in its territory serving civil aviation other than those covered by Article 4(4).

The procedures for conducting Commission inspections shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure referred to in Article 19(2).

Commission inspections of airports, operators and entities applying aviation security standards shall be unannounced. The Commission shall in good time before an inspection inform the Member State concerned thereof.

Each Commission inspection report shall be communicated to the appropriate authority of the Member State concerned, which shall, in its answer, set out the measures taken to remedy any identified deficiencies.

The report, together with the answer of the appropriate authority, shall subsequently be communicated to the appropriate authority of the other Member States.