1.Member States shall provide that all persons then or previously employed by the authorities referred to in Article 20 shall be bound by the obligation of professional secrecy. This shall mean that they may not divulge any confidential information received in the course of their duties to any person or authority whatsoever, except by virtue of provisions laid down by law.
2.Paragraph 1 shall not prevent the various Member State authorities referred to in Article 20 from forwarding information as provided for in this Directive. The information thus exchanged shall be covered by the obligation of professional secrecy applying the persons employed then or previously by the authority receiving such information.
3.Without prejudice to cases covered by criminal law, the authorities referred to in Article 20 receiving information pursuant to Article 21 may use it only to carry out their functions or in the context of an administrative appeal or in court proceedings relating to the carrying out of those functions.
SECTION VII
Negotiations with non-member countries