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1. Following the publication of the notice of initiation in accordance with Article 5(7) and (8), the Commission shall initiate an investigation.

2. The Commission may request Member States to supply information, and Member States shall take all necessary steps to give effect to any such requests. If the requested information is of general interest and is not confidential within the meaning of Article 12, it shall be added to the non-confidential file as provided for in paragraph 8 of this Article.

3. Where possible, the investigation shall be concluded within six months from the date on which the notice of initiation is published in the Official Journal of the European Union. That time limit may be extended by a further period of three months in exceptional circumstances, such as the involvement of an unusually high number of interested parties or complex market situations. The Commission shall notify all interested parties of any such extensions and explain the reasons therefor.

4. The Commission shall seek all information that it considers necessary to determine the conditions set out in Article 3(1) and shall, where appropriate, verify that information.

5. The Commission shall evaluate all relevant factors of an objective and quantifiable nature that affect the situation of the Union industry, in particular the rate and amount of the increase in imports of the product concerned in absolute and relative terms, the share of the domestic market taken by the increased imports, and changes regarding the Union industry with respect to the level of sales, production, productivity, capacity utilisation, profits and losses, and employment. This list is not exhaustive, and the Commission may take other relevant factors into consideration for its determination of the existence of serious injury or threat of serious injury, such as stocks, prices, return of capital employed, cash flow, the level of market shares, and other factors which are causing or may have caused serious injury, or threaten to cause serious injury to the Union industry.

6. Interested parties who have submitted information pursuant to point (b) of Article 5(8) and representatives of the country concerned may, upon written request, inspect all information obtained by the Commission in connection with the investigation, other than internal documents prepared by the Union authorities or authorities of the Member States, provided that such information is relevant to the presentation of their case, is not confidential within the meaning of Article 12, and is used by the Commission in the investigation. Interested parties may also communicate their views on such information. Where there is sufficient prima facie evidence in support of those views, the Commission shall take them into consideration.

7. The Commission shall ensure that all data and statistics which are used for the investigation are representative, available, comprehensible, transparent and verifiable.

8. As soon as the necessary technical framework is in place, the Commission shall ensure password-protected online access to the non-confidential file (the ‘online platform’), which it shall manage and through which all information which is relevant and is not confidential within the meaning of Article 12 shall be disseminated. Interested parties, Member States and the European Parliament shall be granted access to the online platform.

9. The Commission shall hear interested parties, in particular where they have made a written application within the period laid down in the notice of initiation published in the Official Journal of the European Union demonstrating that they are likely to be affected by the outcome of the investigation and that there are special reasons for them to be heard orally. The Commission shall hear interested parties on further occasions if there are special reasons therefor.

10. The Commission shall facilitate access to the investigation for diverse and fragmented industry sectors, which are largely composed of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), through a dedicated SME Helpdesk, for example by raising awareness, by providing general information and explanations on procedures and on how to submit a request, by releasing standard questionnaires in all official languages of the Union and by replying to general, non-case-specific queries. The SME Helpdesk shall make available standard forms for statistics to be submitted for standing purposes and questionnaires.

11. Where information is not supplied within the time limits set by the Commission, or where the investigation is significantly impeded, the Commission may reach a decision on the basis of the available facts. Where the Commission finds that any interested party or any third party has supplied it with false or misleading information, it shall disregard that information and may make use of the facts available.

12. The Commission shall have in place the office of the Hearing Officer whose powers and responsibilities are set out in a mandate adopted by the Commission and who shall safeguard the effective exercise of the procedural rights of the interested parties.

13. The Commission shall notify the country or countries concerned in writing of the initiation of an investigation.