CHAPTER IIIMUTUAL ASSISTANCE MECHANISM

Article 12Requests for enforcement measures

1

At the request of an applicant authority, a requested authority shall take all necessary and proportionate enforcement measures to bring about the cessation or prohibition of the intra-Union infringement by exercising the powers set out in Article 9 and any additional powers granted to it under national law. The requested authority shall determine the appropriate enforcement measures needed to bring about the cessation or prohibition of the intra-Union infringement and shall take them without delay and not later than 6 months after receiving the request, unless it provides specific reasons for extending that period. Where appropriate, the requested authority shall impose penalties, such as fines or periodic penalty payments, on the trader responsible for the intra-Union infringement. The requested authority may receive from the trader, on the trader’s initiative, additional remedial commitments for the benefit of consumers that have been affected by the alleged intra-Union infringement, or, where appropriate, may seek to obtain commitments from the trader to offer adequate remedies to consumers that have been affected by that infringement.

2

The requested authority shall regularly inform the applicant authority about the steps and measures taken and the steps and measures that it intends to take. The requested authority shall use the electronic database provided for in Article 35 to notify without delay the applicant authority, the competent authorities of other Member States and the Commission of the measures taken and the effect of those measures on the intra-Union infringement, including the following:

a

whether interim measures have been imposed;

b

whether the infringement has ceased;

c

which measures have been adopted, and whether those measures have been implemented;

d

the extent to which consumers affected by the alleged infringement have been offered remedial commitments.