1.Member States may disapply or modify the requirements in Article 45(1) and (3) on the basis of reciprocity only if the third-country auditors or audit entities are subject to systems of public oversight, quality assurance and investigations and penalties in the third country that meet requirements equivalent to those of Articles 29, 30 and 32.
2.In order to ensure uniform application of paragraph 1, the equivalence referred to therein shall be assessed by the Commission in cooperation with Member States and shall be decided upon by the Commission in accordance with the regulatory procedure referred to in Article 48(2). Member States may assess the equivalence referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article or rely on the assessments carried out by other Member States as long as the Commission has not taken such a decision. If the Commission decides that the requirement of equivalence referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article is not complied with, it may allow the auditors and audit entities concerned to continue their audit activities in accordance with the requirements of the relevant Member State during an appropriate transitional period.
In this context, the Commission may adopt measures aimed at establishing general equivalence criteria in accordance with the requirements laid down in Articles 29, 30 and 32 which are applicable to all third countries and which shall be used by Member States when assessing equivalence at national level. The criteria may not exceed the requirements laid down in Articles 29, 30 and 32. Those measures, designed to amend non essential elements of this Directive by supplementing it, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 48(2a).
3.Member States shall communicate to the Commission:
their assessments of the equivalence referred to in paragraph 2; and
the main elements of their cooperative arrangements with third-country systems of public oversight, quality assurance and investigations and penalties, on the basis of paragraph 1.