Authorities involved in the alert mechanism
1. Member States shall appoint competent authorities to handle outgoing and incoming alerts pursuant to Article 56a(1) or (3) of Directive 2005/36/EC.
2. In order to ensure that incoming alerts are only handled by the relevant competent authorities, each Member State shall assign the task of coordinating incoming alerts to one or more competent authorities. These competent authorities shall ensure that alerts are assigned to the appropriate competent authorities without undue delay.
3. Member States may assign the task of coordinating outgoing alerts to one or more competent authorities.
Information contained in an alert
1. Alerts shall contain the information set out in Article 56a(2) or (3) of Directive 2005/36/EC.
2. Only competent authorities appointed to handle an alert pursuant to Article 56a(1) or (3) of Directive 2005/36/EC, shall have access to the information referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article.
3. Competent authorities assigned with the task of coordinating incoming alerts shall only have access to the data referred to in point (b) and (d) of Article 56a(2) of Directive 2005/36/EC, unless the alert was subsequently also assigned to them as an authority handling incoming alerts.
4. In case a competent authority handling incoming alerts needs other information than that set out in Article 56a(2) or (3) of Directive 2005/36/EC, it shall use the IMI information request functionality, as provided for in Article 56(2a) of Directive 2005/36/EC.
Alert concerning a holder of an EPC
1. Pursuant to Article 4e(1) of Directive 2005/36/EC where the holder of an EPC is subject to an alert, the competent authorities that dealt with the EPC application under Article 2(1) of this Regulation shall ensure the update of the corresponding IMI file with information contained in the alert including any consequences for the pursuit of the professional activities.
2. To ensure that updates of the IMI files are carried out in a timely manner, Member States shall grant access to the incoming alerts for the competent authorities responsible for handling EPC applications under Article 2(1).
3. The holder of an EPC shall be informed of updates referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article through the online tool referred to in Article 4b(1) of Directive 2005/36/EC or by other means in the case of a written application under Article 8.
Access to alerts in IMI
The IMI shall provide for a possibility for the competent authorities handling incoming or outgoing alerts to consult any alert they sent or received in IMI and for which the closure procedure referred to in Article 28 has not been launched.
IMI functionalities for alerts
IMI shall provide the following functionalities to be undertaken by the competent authorities appointed to handle incoming and outgoing alerts:
(a)
sending alerts as provided for in Article 56a(1), (2) and (3) of Directive 2005/36/EC;
(b)
withdrawing alerts which have been sent on the basis of a decision which has been subsequently revoked or annulled;
(c)
correcting information contained in alerts and modifying alerts;
(d)
closing and deleting alerts as provided for in Article 56a(5) and(7) of Directive 2005/36/EC.
Closure, deletion and modification of alerts
1. Data regarding alerts may be processed within IMI for as long as they are valid including the completion of the closure procedure referred to in Article 56a(7) of Directive 2005/36/EC.
2. When the alert is no longer valid due to the expiry of the sanction, in cases not covered by paragraph 5 of this Article, the competent authority which sent the alert as provided for in Article 56a(1) of Directive 2005/36/EC shall modify its content or close the alert within three days from the adoption of the relevant decision, or receiving the relevant information where adoption of such decision is not required under national law. The competent authorities that handled the incoming alert and the professional concerned shall be immediately informed about any modifications concerning the alert.
3. The IMI shall send regular reminders for the competent authorities which handled the outgoing alert to verify whether the information contained in the alert is still valid.
4. In case of a revoking decision, the alert shall be immediately closed by the competent authority which originally sent it and personal data shall be deleted from the IMI within three days as provided for in Article 56a(7) of Directive 2005/36/EC.
5. In the case of a sanction that has expired on the date specified in Article 56a(5) of Directive 2005/36/EC the alert shall be automatically closed by the IMI and personal data shall be deleted from the system within three days as provided for in Article 56a(7) of Directive 2005/36/EC.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
