Recital 1

(1)Under Article 47(1) of Directive 2006/43/EC, Member States may allow the transfer of audit working papers or other documents held by statutory auditors or audit firms approved by them, and of inspection or investigation reports relating to the audits in question, to the competent authorities of a third country only if the conditions set out therein are fulfilled. Among those conditions, Article 47(1), points (c) and (d) of that Directive require that those authorities meet requirements that have been declared adequate by the Commission and that there are working arrangements on the basis of reciprocity between those third country competent authorities and the competent authorities of the Member States concerned. The same requirement exists in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (‘United Kingdom’). It follows that the transfer of such audit working papers or other documents requires the adoption of adequacy decisions and of working arrangements on both sides. The United Kingdom has already granted adequacy decisions to each of the Member States. In that context, it should be determined whether the competent authority of the United Kingdom meets the requirements that are adequate for those purposes.