Following the initiation of the proceeding, the Commission shall commence an investigation. The period as set out in paragraph 3 shall start on the day the decision to initiate the investigation is published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

The Commission may request Member States to supply information and Member States shall take whatever steps are necessary in order to give effect to any such request. If that information is of general interest and is not confidential within the meaning of Article 12, it shall be added to the non-confidential files as provided for in paragraph 8.

The investigation shall, whenever possible, be concluded within 6 months of its initiation. That time limit may be extended by a further period of 3 months in exceptional circumstances such as the involvement of an unusually high number of parties, or complex market situations. The Commission shall notify all interested parties of any such extension and explain the reasons which have led to this extension.

The Commission shall seek all information it considers necessary to make a determination with regard to the conditions set out in Article 2(1), and, where it considers it appropriate, endeavour to verify that information.

In the investigation the Commission shall evaluate all relevant factors of an objective and quantifiable nature having a bearing on the situation of the Union industry, in particular, the rate and amount of the increase in imports of the product concerned in absolute and relative terms, the share of the domestic market taken by increased imports, changes in the level of sales, production, productivity, capacity utilisation, profits and losses, and employment. This list is not exhaustive and other relevant factors may also be taken into consideration by the Commission for its determination of the existence of serious injury or threat of serious injury, such as stocks, prices, return on capital employed, cash flow, and other factors which are causing or may have caused serious injury, or threaten to cause serious injury to the Union industry.

Interested parties who have come forward pursuant to Article 4(5)(b) and representatives of Korea may, upon written request, inspect all information made available to the Commission in connection with the investigation other than internal documents prepared by the Union authorities or those of the Member States, provided that that information is relevant to the presentation of their case and not confidential within the meaning of Article 12 and that it is used by the Commission in the investigation. Interested parties who have come forward may communicate their views on the information to the Commission. Those views shall be taken into consideration where they are backed by sufficient prima facie evidence.

The Commission shall ensure that all data and statistics which are used for the investigation are available, comprehensible, transparent and verifiable.

The Commission shall, as soon as the necessary technical framework is in place, ensure password-protected online access to the non-confidential file (‘online platform’), which it shall manage and through which all information which is relevant and is not confidential within the meaning of Article 12 shall be disseminated. Interested parties to the investigation as well as Member States and the European Parliament shall be granted access to this online platform.

The Commission shall hear the interested parties, in particular where they have made a written application within the period laid down in the notice published in the Official Journal of the European Union, showing that they are actually likely to be affected by the outcome of the investigation and that there are special reasons for them to be heard orally.

The Commission shall hear such parties on further occasions if there are special reasons for them to be heard again.

When information is not supplied within the time limits set by the Commission, or the investigation is significantly impeded, findings may be made on the basis of the facts available. Where the Commission finds that any interested party or third party has supplied it with false or misleading information, it shall disregard that information and may make use of the facts available.

The Commission shall notify Korea in writing of the initiation of an investigation and consult with Korea as far in advance of applying a safeguard measure as practicable, with a view to reviewing the information arising from the investigation and exchanging views on the measure.