[F1TITLE V U.K. ADMINISTRATIVE COOPERATION AND RESPONSIBILITY TOWARDS CITIZENS FOR IMPLEMENTATION]

Article 56U.K.Competent authorities

1.The competent authorities of the host Member State and of the home Member State shall work in close collaboration and shall provide mutual assistance in order to facilitate application of this Directive. They shall ensure the confidentiality of the information which they exchange.

2.[F1The competent authorities of the home and the host Member States shall exchange information regarding disciplinary action or criminal sanctions taken or any other serious, specific circumstances which are likely to have consequences for the pursuit of activities under this Directive. In so doing, they shall respect personal data protection rules provided for in Directives 95/46/EC and 2002/58/EC.]

The home Member State shall examine the veracity of the circumstances and its authorities shall decide on the nature and scope of the investigations which need to be carried out and shall inform the host Member State of the conclusions which it draws from the information available to it.

[F22a. For the purposes of paragraphs 1 and 2, the competent authorities shall use IMI.]

3.Each Member State shall, no later than 20 October 2007, designate the authorities and bodies competent to award or receive evidence of formal qualifications and other documents or information, and those competent to receive applications and take the decisions referred to in this Directive, and shall forthwith inform the other Member States and the Commission thereof.

[F14. Each Member State shall designate a coordinator for the activities of the competent authorities referred to in paragraph 1 and shall inform other Member States and the Commission thereof.

The coordinators’ tasks shall be:

(a) to promote uniform application of this Directive;

(b) to collect all the information which is relevant for application of this Directive, such as on the conditions for access to regulated professions in the Member States;

(c) to examine suggestions for common training frameworks and common training tests;

(d) to exchange information and best practice for the purpose of optimising continuous professional development in Member States;

(e) to exchange information and best practice on the application of compensation measures referred to in Article 14.

For the purpose of carrying out the task set out in point (b) of this paragraph, the coordinators may solicit the help of the assistance centres referred to in Article 57b.]