1. In each Member State, a file shall be opened in a central register, commercial register or companies register, for each of the companies registered therein.
Member States shall ensure that companies have a unique identifier allowing them to be unequivocally identified in communication between registers through the system of interconnection of central, commercial and companies registers established in accordance with Article 4a(2) ("the system of interconnection of registers"). That unique identifier shall comprise, at least, elements making it possible to identify the Member State of the register, the domestic register of origin and the company number in that register and, where appropriate, features to avoid identification errors.
2. For the purposes of this Article, 'by electronic means' shall mean that the information is sent initially and received at its destination by means of electronic equipment for the processing (including digital compression) and storage of data, and