Reporting should at least cover (in no order of preference)
- Reporting
- After a site visit;
- Process/ store inspection data;
- Evaluation for further actions;
- Finalised a.s.a.p.;
- Keep record of reports;
- Accessible database;
- Notified to the operator (within 2 months after an inspection is completed);
- Publicly available (within 4 months after an inspection is completed).
- Exchange information with partner organisations
The audience of the inspection reports can be broad. Besides the inspectorate and the operator, also other competent authorities, ministries, public and the European Commission could be interested in the results of the inspection.
A report should therefore be written in plain language and not too technical. Commercial confidentiality and National security are also issues to take into account before publishing the report. Because of this, it may be considered appropriate to make specific reports excluding these issues available for external use (public). These summary reports could then be used without prejudice if non-compliance leads to a possible court case. Otherwise, the requirement to make a report publicly available within 4 months could easily be passed before while the outcome is being investigated by the inspectorate.
See factsheet 3.14 for a further explanation on reporting on inspection findings.