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1. Investigations within the institutions, bodies, offices and agencies in the areas referred to in Article 1 shall be conducted in accordance with this Regulation and with the decisions adopted by the relevant institution, body, office or agency (‘internal investigations’).

3. Under the same rules and conditions as provided for in Article 3, the Office may carry out on-the-spot checks and inspections at the premises of economic operators in order to obtain access to information relevant to the matter under investigation within the institutions, bodies, offices and agencies.

4. The institutions, bodies, offices and agencies shall be informed whenever the staff of the Office conduct an internal investigation on their premises, consult documents or data, or request information held by them. Without prejudice to Articles 10 and 11, the Office may at any time forward to the institution, body, office or agency concerned the information obtained in the course of internal investigations.

5. The institutions, bodies, offices and agencies shall put in place appropriate procedures and take necessary measures to ensure at all stages the confidentiality of internal investigations.

6. Where internal investigations reveal that an official, other servant, member of an institution or body, head of office or agency, or staff member may be a person concerned, the institution, body, office or agency to which that person belongs shall be informed.

In cases where the confidentiality of the internal investigation cannot be ensured using the usual channels of communication, the Office shall use appropriate alternative channels for transmitting information. In exceptional cases, the provision of such information may be deferred on the basis of a reasoned decision by the Director-General, which shall be transmitted to the Supervisory Committee after the closure of the investigation.

7. The decision to be adopted by each institution, body, office or agency as provided for in paragraph 1 shall include, in particular, a rule concerning a duty on the part of officials, other servants, members of institutions or bodies, heads of offices or agencies, or staff members to cooperate with and supply information to the Office, while ensuring the confidentiality of the internal investigation.

8. Without prejudice to Article 12c(1), where, before a decision has been taken whether or not to open an internal investigation, the Office handles information which suggests that there has been fraud, corruption or any other illegal activity affecting the financial interests of the Union, it may inform the institution, body, office or agency concerned. Upon request, the institution, body, office or agency concerned shall inform the Office of any action taken and of its findings on the basis of such information. Where necessary, the Office shall also inform the competent authorities of the Member State concerned. In this case, the procedural requirements laid down in the second and third subparagraphs of Article 9(4) shall apply. If the competent authorities decide to take any action on the basis of the information transmitted to them, in accordance with national law, they shall, upon request, inform the Office thereof.

2. In the course of internal investigations:

(a) the Office shall have the right of immediate and unannounced access to any relevant information and data, relating to the matter under investigation, irrespective of the type of medium on which it is stored, held by the institutions, bodies, offices and agencies, and to their premises. Where privately owned devices are used for work purposes, those devices may be subject to inspection by the Office. The Office shall subject such devices to inspection only to the extent that the devices are used for work purposes, under the conditions set in the decisions adopted by the relevant institution, body, office or agency and where the Office has reasonable grounds for suspecting that their content may be relevant for the investigation. The Office shall be empowered to inspect the accounts of the institutions, bodies, offices and agencies. The Office may take a copy of, and obtain extracts from, any document or the contents of any data medium held by the institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and, if necessary, assume custody of such documents or data to ensure that there is no danger of their disappearance;

(b) the Office may request oral information, including through interviews, and written information from officials, other servants, members of institutions or bodies, heads of offices or agencies, or staff members, thoroughly documented in accordance with the applicable Union confidentiality and data protection rules.