Verification and certification by Member States of statements of support
Article 8
1. After collecting the necessary statements of support from signatories in accordance with Articles 5 and 7, the organisers shall submit the statements of support, in paper or electronic form, to the relevant competent authorities referred to in Article 15 for verification and certification. For that purpose the organisers shall use the form set out in Annex V and shall separate those statements of support collected in paper form, those which were electronically signed using an advanced electronic signature and those collected through an online collection system. The organisers shall submit statements of support to the relevant Member State as follows: (a) to the Member State of residence or of nationality of the signatory, as specified in point 1 of Part C of Annex III, or (b) to the Member State that issued the personal identification number or the personal identification document indicated in the statement of support, as specified in point 2 of Part C of Annex III. 2. The competent authorities shall, within a period not exceeding three months from receipt of the request, verify the statements of support submitted on the basis of appropriate checks, in accordance with national law and practice, as appropriate. On that basis they shall deliver to the organisers a certificate in accordance with the model set out in Annex VI, certifying the number of valid statements of support for the Member State concerned. For the purpose of the verification of statements of support, the authentication of signatures shall not be required. 3. The certificate provided for in paragraph 2 shall be issued free of charge.