CHAPTER II

PROCEDURES FOR INVESTIGATIONS

Initiation of the investigations
Article 2
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.

Request for information
Article 3
1
At the request of the Commission, any government entity, directly or indirectly involved in compiling debt and deficit data of the Member State concerned, or whose accounts are used for this compilation (hereinafter referred to as ‘the entity concerned’) shall provide the Commission with all necessary information to perform its task of investigation. The Member State concerned shall be informed about any such request by the Commission to the entity concerned.
2
The Commission shall state the purpose of the request, specifying that the request is made pursuant to this Decision, and shall indicate a deadline for the reply, which shall be no less than four weeks.

Interviews
Article 4
The Commission may interview any person directly or indirectly involved in compiling deficit and debt data, who agrees to be interviewed, for the purpose of collecting information or explanations concerning facts or documents relating to the subject matter of an investigation and to record the answers. The entity concerned shall be informed before any of its representatives or members of staff are interviewed. The person interviewed may request the assistance of a representative of the entity concerned or of a legal counsel.

Inspections
Article 5
1
The Commission officials and other accompanying persons authorised by the Commission to conduct an inspection shall be empowered to:
a
enter any premises of the entity concerned;
b
accede all records and accounts of the entity concerned, irrespective of the medium on which they are stored;
c
take or obtain any form of copy or extract of any records and accounts;
d
seal any records and accounts to the extent and for the period of time necessary to compile the factual evidence for the investigation while not hampering the essential activities of the entity concerned;
e
ask any representative or member of staff of the entity concerned for explanations on facts or documents relating to the subject matter and purpose of the inspection, under the conditions laid down in Article 4.
2
The Commission officials and other accompanying persons authorised by the Commission to conduct an inspection shall present a written authorisation specifying the subject matter and purpose of the inspection, stating the date on which the inspection begins.
3
The entity concerned shall fully cooperate with the Commission for the purposes of the inspection.
4
Staff members of statistical authorities of the Member State concerned shall, at the request of the Commission, actively assist the officials and other accompanying persons authorised by the Commission. To this end, they shall enjoy the powers specified in paragraph 1.
5
Where the Commission officials and other accompanying persons authorised by the Commission find that an entity opposes an inspection ordered pursuant to this Article, the Member State concerned shall provide them the necessary assistance according to national rules.
6
If, by national rules, the authorisation from a judicial authority is necessary for the conduct of the inspection, such authorisation shall be applied for by the Commission. In those cases the authorisation from a judicial authority shall be presented along with the written authorisation referred to in paragraph 2.

Right to be heard
Article 6
Before adoption of the report referred to in Article 7, the Commission shall invite the Member State concerned to submit written observations on the preliminary findings.
It shall do so in writing, indicating a deadline for the submission of those observations, which shall be no less than four weeks.

Reporting
Article 7
1
The Commission shall adopt a report presenting its findings and the observations submitted by the Member State concerned in the light of the investigations conducted in accordance with this Chapter and submit it to that Member State.
2
The Commission shall transmit this report to the European Parliament and the Council. This report shall be made public.
3
The Commission (Eurostat) shall inform the European Statistical System Committee and the European Statistical Governance Advisory Board about the outcome of the investigation.
4
Any Commission recommendation to the Council to impose a fine on the Member State concerned shall be based on the report referred to in paragraph 1.

Duration
Article 8
1
The Commission shall adopt the report referred to in Article 7 no later than 10 months after notification of its decision to initiate an investigation according to Article 2. In exceptional cases, where the investigations are obstructed or where the acquisition of the information necessary for the investigations involves excessively long procedures, the Commission may extend the deadline by five months.
2
The inspections shall be completed within six months of the starting date of the inspection. In exceptional cases, where the inspections are obstructed or where the acquisition of the information in connection with the inspections involves excessively long procedures, the Commission may extend the deadline by three months.