Article 18

At intervals of three years Member States shall transmit to the Commission a report on the implementation of this Directive. The report shall be drawn up on the basis of a questionnaire or outline to be adopted by the Commission in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 23(2). The report shall be transmitted to the Commission within nine months of the end of the three-year period covered by it.

The Commission shall publish a report on the implementation of this Directive within nine months of receiving the reports from the Member States.

Every year Member States shall transmit to the Commission information on events notified by the operators in accordance with Articles 11(3) and 12(6). The Commission shall make this information available to the Member States upon request. Without prejudice to Community law on public access to environmental information, Member States shall in their turn make the information available to members of the public concerned on request.