Artikel 22

1. The competent authorities shall communicate to each other any information necessary for the application of this Agreement or of the respective social security laws of the Contracting Parties concerning all matters arising under this Agreement or under those laws.
2. The institutions shall:
a) furnish assistance to one another with regard to the determination or payment of any benefit or pension under this Agreement or any other entitlement under the respective social security laws as if the matter involved the application of their own laws;
b) at the request of one to the other, assist each other in relation to the implementation of Agreements on social security entered into by either of the two Contracting Parties with third states,to the extent and in the circumstances specified in administrative arrangements made in accordance with Article 23.
3. The assistance referred to in paragraph 2 shall be provided free of charge.
4. Any information transmitted in accordance with this Agreement to an institution shall be protected in the same manner as information obtained under the social security laws of the receiving party.
5. In no case shall the provisions of paragraphs 2 and 4 be construed so as to impose on the institution of a Contracting Party the obligation to:
a) carry out administrative measures at variance with the laws or the administrative practices of that or the other Contracting Party; or
b) supply particulars which are not obtainable under the laws or in the normal course of that or the other Contracting Party.