No application for a licence or certificate shall be accepted unless it is forwarded to or lodged with the competent body on forms printed and/or made out in accordance with Article 17.

However, competent bodies may accept written telecommunications and electronic messages as valid applications, provided they include all the information which would have appeared on the form, had it been used. Member States may require that a written telecommunication and/or electronic message be followed by an application on a form printed or made out in accordance with Article 17, forwarded or delivered direct to the competent body; in such cases the date on which the written telecommunication or electronic message reached the competent body shall be taken as the day the application is lodged. This requirement shall not affect the validity of applications forwarded by written telecommunication or electronic message.

Where applications for licences or certificates are submitted electronically, the competent authorities of the Member State shall determine how the handwritten signature is to be replaced by another method, which might be based on the use of codes.

Applications for licences and certificates may be cancelled only by letter, written telecommunication or electronic message received by the competent body, except in cases of force majeure, by 1 p.m. on the day the application is lodged.