66It must be observed in this connection that, even though no express provision for the EU Pilot procedure is made in the Treaty, that does not mean that it has no legal basis. Indeed, first of all, the EU Pilot procedure must be understood as a procedure which stems from the powers that are inherent in the Commission’s duty to verify compliance by the Member States with EU law (see, to that effect, Commission v Technische Glaswerke Ilmenau, paragraph 60). Accordingly, a mechanism or procedure for the exchange of information prior to the initiation of an infringement procedure has always existed and is an indispensible means of carrying out initial factual verification and obtaining the initial evidence of an infringement of EU law. Secondly, the very purpose of the EU Pilot procedure is to provide a formal framework for the initial exchanges of information between the Commission and the Member States concerning possible infringements of EU law. That being so, even though its basis does not lie in Article 258 TFEU, the EU Pilot procedure provides a structure for the steps which the Commission has traditionally taken on receiving a complaint or when acting on its own initiative.
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