Conduct of arbitration proceedings by the Union
Article 11
1. Pursuant to Article 6, the following provisions shall apply throughout arbitration proceedings, where the Union acts as the respondent in any disputes in which a Member State would be liable to bear all or part of the potential financial responsibility: (a) the Commission shall take all necessary measures to defend and protect the interests of the Member State concerned; (b) the Member State concerned shall provide all necessary assistance to the Commission; (c) the Commission shall provide the Member State concerned with relevant documents relating to the proceeding, keep the Member State informed of all significant procedural steps and enter into consultations with the Member State in any event when requested by the Member State concerned, so as to ensure as effective a defence as possible; (d) the Commission and the Member State concerned shall prepare the defence in close cooperation with each other; and, (e) the Union’s delegation to the proceedings shall comprise the Commission and representatives of the Member State concerned, unless the Member State concerned informs the Commission that it intends not to form part of the Union’s delegation to the proceedings. 2. The Commission shall regularly inform the European Parliament and the Council of developments in the arbitration proceedings referred to in paragraph 1.