1. Without prejudice to Article 26, in carrying out their tasks under this Regulation, the competent authorities or any other public authorities of a Member State may not interfere with the content of audit reports.

2. Member States shall ensure that the competent authorities have all the supervisory and investigatory powers that are necessary for the exercise of their functions under this Regulation in accordance with the provisions of Chapter VII of Directive 2006/43/EC.

3. The powers referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article shall include, at least, the power to:

(a) access data related to the statutory audit or other documents held by statutory auditors or audit firms in any form relevant to the carrying out of their tasks and to receive or take a copy thereof;

(b) obtain information related to the statutory audit from any person;

(c) carry out on-site inspections of statutory auditors or audit firms;

(d) refer matters for criminal prosecution;

(e) request experts to carry out verifications or investigations;