1. This Directive shall not preclude Member States from maintaining or concluding bilateral or multilateral agreements or arrangements between themselves on the exchange of information between competent authorities, insofar as such agreements or arrangements are compatible with Union law, in particular with this Directive.
2. This Directive is without prejudice to any obligations and commitments of Member States or of the Union under existing bilateral or multilateral agreements with third countries.
3. Without prejudice to the division of competences between the Union and the Member States, in accordance with Union law, Member States shall notify the Commission of their intention to enter into negotiations on, and to conclude, agreements between Member States and third countries that are contracting parties of the European Economic Area on matters falling within the scope of Chapter II of this Directive.
If, within two months of receipt of notification of a Member State’s intention
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