Where a market surveillance authority has reason to suspect non-compliance with this Regulation by a provider or a deployer of an AI system referred to in Article 75(1), it may send a request to the AI Office to assess the matter.
When requesting information, the AI Office shall state the legal basis and the purpose of the request, specify what information is required, and set the period within which the information is to be provided. Where the request is a simple request, the AI Office shall additionally indicate that although there is no obligation to provide the information requested, in the case of a voluntary reply, the information must be correct and not misleading, and indicate the potential fines provided for in Article 99(5) for supplying incorrect or misleading information. Where the request is made by decision, the AI Office shall additionally indicate the fines provided for in Article 99(5) for supplying incorrect, incomplete or misleading information and indicate the right to have the decision reviewed by the Court of Justice of the European Union. The AI Office shall send a copy of the request to the market surveillance authority of the Member State in the territory of which the operator or its legal representative is situated.
During such an inspection, the officials of the AI Office shall be empowered to:
enter any of the business premises, land or property located in the Union of the operator concerned;
examine the books, data and other material relevant to the execution of their tasks, irrespective of the medium on which they are stored;
take or obtain in any form copies of or extracts from books, data and other records;
ask any of the persons subject to the inspection, or their representatives, or staff, for oral or written explanations on factors or documents relating to the subject matter and purpose of the inspection, and to record the answers;
seal any business premises and books or records for the duration of, and to the extent necessary for, the inspection.
Where the AI Office finds that a natural or legal person opposes or obstructs an inspection, the national competent authority of the Member State concerned shall afford it the necessary assistance, requesting, where appropriate, the assistance of the police or an equivalent enforcement authority, to enable it to conduct its on-site inspection.
Where an on-site inspection of business premises, land or property requires authorisation by a judicial authority in accordance with national law, the AI Office shall apply for such an authorisation. The AI Office may also apply for such authorisation as a precautionary measure. Where such an authorisation is applied for, the national judicial authority shall promptly verify that the coercive measures envisaged are neither arbitrary nor excessive having regard to the subject matter of the investigation or inspection and the documents provided by the AI Office with the decision. In its verification of the proportionality of coercive measures, the national judicial authority may ask the AI Office for detailed explanations, in particular relating to the grounds the AI Office has for suspecting that an infringement of this Regulation has taken place and the seriousness of the suspected infringement and, where relevant, the nature of the involvement of the person subject to the coercive measures. The national judicial authority shall not review the necessity of the investigation or inspection nor demand information from the case file of the AI Office. In accordance with the Treaties, the legality of the decision of the AI Office is subject to review only by the Court of Justice of the European Union.
In addition to the powers set out in paragraph 1 of this Article, the AI Office, in the exercise of its competences referred to in Article 75(1), may:
order operators to provide access to, and explanations relating to, their AI systems;
impose an obligation on an operator to retain all data and documents deemed to be necessary to assess the implementation of and compliance with the obligations under this Regulation.