General tasks
Article 3
1. ACER may, upon a request of the European Parliament, the Council or the Commission, or on its own initiative, provide an opinion or a recommendation to the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on any of the issues relating to the purpose for which it has been established. 2. At ACER's request, the regulatory authorities, the ENTSO for Electricity, the ENTSO for Gas, the regional coordination centres, the EU DSO entity, the transmission system operators and the nominated electricity market operators shall provide to ACER the information necessary for the purpose of carrying out ACER's tasks under this Regulation, unless ACER has already requested and received such information. For the purpose of information requests as referred to in the first subparagraph, ACER shall have the power to issue decisions. In its decisions, ACER shall specify the purpose of its request, shall make a reference to the legal basis under which the information is requested, and shall state a time limit within which the information is to be provided. That time limit shall be proportionate to the request. ACER shall use confidential information received pursuant to this Regulation only for the purpose of carrying out the tasks assigned to it in this Regulation. ACER shall ensure the appropriate data protection of the information pursuant to Article 41.