If, after an invitation to pay additional search fees, the applicant does not do so, the file will not be returned to the examiner, but the final search report and the WO‑ISA, which were already prepared by the examiner at the initial search stage, will be sent out by the formalities officer.
During the European phase, the applicant may still pursue claimed inventions which were not searched in the international phase upon invitation to pay search fees by the examining division. See GL/EPO C-III, 2.3.
Source: http://www.epo.org/law-practice/legal-texts/html/guidelinespct/e/b_vii_6_1.htm
Date retrieved: 17 May 2021