Supervisory and enforcement powers of the AI Office

1. When exercising its tasks of supervision and enforcement laid down in Article 75(1) of this Regulation, the AI Office shall have all the powers of a market surveillance authority provided for in this Section and in Article 14(4) and Article 16(3) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020. The AI Office shall be authorised to fully reclaim from the relevant operator the totality of the costs of its supervision and enforcement activities with respect to instances of non-compliance, including costs for human and technical resources, in accordance with Article 15 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020. Article 17 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 shall apply mutatis mutandis.

2. Where the AI Office has reasonable grounds to suspect non-compliance with this Regulation by a provider or a deployer of an AI system referred to in Article 75(1) of this Regulation, it may adopt a decision to start an investigation into that non-compliance in accordance with Article 14(4), point (f) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020. Upon starting such an investigation, the AI Office shall notify the operator of the AI system concerned. The AI Office may exercise the powers referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article on its own initiative or following a complaint received pursuant to Article 85 of this Regulation, even before starting an investigation pursuant to Article 14(4), point (f) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020.

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.

3. The AI Office may exercise the powers listed in Article 14(4), points (a), (b) and (c) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 and Article 74(12) and (13) of this Regulation by simple request or by decision.

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.

4. In order to carry out the tasks assigned to it under this Section, the AI Office may conduct all necessary remote or on-site inspections pursuant to the powers laid down in Article 14(4), points (d) and (e) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 and Article 74(5) of this Regulation. When conducting an inspection, the AI Office shall inform the provider concerned of the subject matter and purpose of the investigation, the relevant fines referred to in Article 99(5) of this Regulation, and the right to have the decision reviewed by the Court of Justice of the European Union. Prior to conducting an inspection, the AI Office shall inform 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:

• (a) enter any of the business premises, land or property located in the Union of the operator concerned;

• (b) examine the books, data and other material relevant to the execution of their tasks, irrespective of the medium on which they are stored;

• (c) take or obtain in any form copies of or extracts from books, data and other records;

• (d) 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;

• (e) 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.

5. At the request of the AI Office, the competent market surveillance authority of a Member State may in its own territory carry out any investigation, inspection or other fact-finding measure on behalf and for the account of the AI Office in order to establish whether there has been an infringement of this Regulation. The officials of the competent authorities of the Member States who are responsible for conducting such investigations, inspections, or fact-finding measures, as well as those authorised or appointed by them, shall exercise their powers in accordance with their national law.

6. 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:

• (a) order operators to provide access to, and explanations relating to, their AI systems;

• (b) 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.

7. To assist it in monitoring the effective implementation and compliance with the relevant provisions of this Regulation and to provide it with specific expertise or knowledge in the exercise of its competences under Article 75(1), the AI Office may appoint independent external experts and auditors, as well as experts, investigative teams and auditors from the Member State’s competent authorities with the agreement of the authority concerned. Information obtained as a result of such monitoring actions shall be shared with the relevant competent authorities of the Member States.

8. Information collected pursuant to this Article shall be used only for the purpose of this Regulation.