Commission Delegated Decision of 29 June 2012 on investigations and fines related to the manipulation of statistics as referred to in Regulation (EU) No 1173/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the effective enforcement of budgetary surveillance in the euro area (2012/678/EU)

Article 2 Initiation of the investigations

1. The Commission shall notify the Member State concerned of its decision to initiate an investigation, including information of the serious indications found of the existence of facts liable to constitute a misrepresentation of general government deficit and debt data arising from the manipulation of such data as a result of either intent or serious negligence.

2. During an investigation, the Commission (Eurostat) may request information, interview persons, conduct on-site inspections and accede to the accounts of all government entities at central, State, local and social security level, in accordance with the procedures laid down in Articles 3 to 5. Those means of investigation may be employed by the Commission (Eurostat), either individually or in combination. Where relevant and while fully respecting national rules governing such institutions, the court of auditors or other supreme audit institutions of the Member State concerned may be invited to assist and participate.

3. The Commission may opt not to conduct such an investigation until a methodological visit has been carried out in accordance with a decision taken by the Commission (Eurostat) under Regulation (EC) No 479/2009.

4. The Commission shall inform the European Parliament and the Council of its decision to initiate an investigation.