1.   This Regulation shall apply to the following:

2.   This Regulation shall apply without prejudice to Directive 2006/43/EC.

3.   Where a cooperative within the meaning of point (14) of Article 2 of Directive 2006/43/EC, a savings bank or a similar entity as referred to in Article 45 of Directive 86/635/EEC, or a subsidiary or a legal successor of a cooperative, a savings bank or a similar entity as referred to in Article 45 of Directive 86/635/EEC is required or permitted under national provisions to be a member of a non-profit-making auditing entity, the Member State may decide that this Regulation or certain provisions of it shall not apply to the statutory audit of such entity, provided that the principles of independence laid down in Directive 2006/43/EC are complied with by the statutory auditor when carrying out the statutory audit of one of its members and by persons who may be in a position to influence the statutory audit.

4.   Where a cooperative within the meaning of point (14) of Article 2 of Directive 2006/43/EC, a savings bank or a similar entity as referred to in Article 45 of Directive 86/635/EEC, or a subsidiary or a legal successor of a cooperative, a savings bank or a similar entity as referred to in Article 45 of Directive 86/635/EEC is required or permitted under national provisions to be a member of a non-profit-making auditing entity, an objective, reasonable and informed party would not conclude that the membership-based relationship compromises the statutory auditor's independence, provided that when such an auditing entity is conducting a statutory audit of one of its members, the principles of independence are applied to the statutory auditors carrying out the audit and those persons who may be in a position to influence the statutory audit.

5.   The Member State shall inform the Commission and the Committee of European Auditing Oversight Bodies (hereinafter referred to as ‘the CEAOB’), referred to in Article 30, of such exceptional situations of non-application of this Regulation or certain provisions of this Regulation. It shall communicate to the Commission and the CEAOB the list of provisions of this Regulation that do not apply to the statutory audit of the entities referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article and the reasons that justified such non-application.