1. The Agency, in close cooperation with the Commission, shall establish a monitoring mechanism for the purpose of monitoring the operational and technical application of the CEAS in order to prevent or identify possible shortcomings in the asylum and reception systems of Member States and to assess their capacity and preparedness to manage situations of disproportionate pressure so as to enhance the efficiency of those systems.
2. The Management Board shall, on a proposal of the Executive Director and in consultation with the Commission, establish a common methodology for the monitoring mechanism set out in this Chapter. The common methodology shall include objective criteria against which the monitoring shall be carried out, a description of the methods, processes and tools for the monitoring mechanism such as practical arrangements for on-site visits, including short-notice visits, and rules and principles for the establishment of teams of experts.
3. The monitoring shall cover the operational and technical application of all aspects of the CEAS, in particular:
(a)
the system for determining the Member State responsible for examining applications for international protection established by Regulation (EU) No 604/2013, procedures for international protection, the application of criteria for assessing the need for protection and the type of protection granted, including as regards respect for fundamental rights, child protection safeguards and the specific needs of persons in a vulnerable situation;
(b)
the availability and capacity of staff in terms of translation and interpretation and the capacity of staff to handle and manage asylum cases efficiently, including handling appeals, without prejudice to judicial independence and with full respect for the organisation of the judiciary of each Member State;
(c)
reception conditions, capacity, infrastructure and equipment and, to the extent possible, financial resources for reception.
4. The monitoring may be carried out, in particular, on the basis of the information provided by the Member State concerned, the information analysis on the situation of asylum referred to in Article 5 and case sampling.
The Agency may take into account information available from relevant intergovernmental organisations or bodies, in particular the UNHCR, and other relevant organisations on the basis of their expertise.
5. The Agency may carry out on-site visits for the purposes of the monitoring exercise. The Agency shall carry out short-notice visits only for the purposes of Article 15(2).
6. Member States shall, at the request of the Agency, provide it with information on the aspects of the CEAS referred to in paragraph 3.
Member States shall, at the request of the Agency, provide it with information on their contingency planning for measures to be taken to deal with possible disproportionate pressure on their asylum or reception system. The Agency shall, with the agreement of the Member State concerned, assist Member States in preparing and reviewing their contingency planning.
7. The Member States shall cooperate with the Agency, including by facilitating any on-site visit carried out for the purposes of the monitoring exercise. The Executive Director shall notify the Member States concerned sufficiently in advance of any such visit. In the case of short-notice visits, the Executive Director shall notify the Member State concerned 72 hours in advance.
1. The Management Board shall, on the basis of a proposal of the Executive Director and in consultation with the Commission, adopt a programme for the purposes of the monitoring mechanism referred to in Article 14 (the ‘monitoring programme’), which shall cover:
(a)
the operational and technical application of all aspects of the CEAS in each Member State; and
(b)
thematic or specific aspects of the CEAS with regard to all Member States.
The monitoring programme shall indicate which Member States’ asylum and reception systems are to be monitored in a particular year. The monitoring programme shall ensure that each Member State is monitored at least once in every 5-year period.
2. Where the information analysis on the situation of asylum referred to in Article 5 raises serious concerns regarding the functioning of a Member State’s asylum or reception system, the Agency shall initiate a monitoring exercise either on its own initiative in consultation with the Commission or at the request of the Commission.
3. The Executive Director shall send the findings of a monitoring exercise to the Member State concerned for comments, including, as appropriate, indications of its needs. Member States shall have 1 month from the date of receipt of the findings to submit comments.
4. The Executive Director shall, on the basis of the findings referred to in paragraph 3 and taking into account the comments of the Member State concerned, and in consultation with the Commission, draw up draft recommendations. The draft recommendations shall outline the measures to be taken by the Member State concerned, including with the assistance of the Agency, as necessary, and a time limit by which any necessary measures need to be taken by the Member State concerned to address the shortcomings or issues of capacity and preparedness identified in the monitoring exercise. The Executive Director shall send the draft recommendations to the Member State concerned. The Member State concerned shall have 1 month from the date of receipt of the draft recommendations to submit comments thereon. In the cases referred to in paragraph 2, the Member State concerned shall submit its comments within 15 days.
After taking into account the comments of the Member State concerned, the Executive Director shall submit the findings and draft recommendations to the Management Board. The Management Board shall, by a decision of two-thirds of its members with the right to vote, adopt the recommendations. The Agency shall transmit the recommendations to the European Parliament. The Agency shall inform the Commission about the implementation of the recommendations.
5. Where a Member State does not implement the measures outlined in the recommendations of the Agency referred to in paragraph 4 within the set time limit, resulting in serious consequences for the functioning of the CEAS, the Commission shall, on the basis of its own assessment, adopt recommendations addressed to that Member State identifying the measures needed to remedy the shortcomings and, where necessary, specific measures to be taken by the Agency to support that Member State.
6. The Commission may, taking into account the seriousness of the shortcomings, organise on-site visits to the Member State concerned. The Commission shall notify the Member State concerned sufficiently in advance of any such visit.
7. The Member State concerned shall report to the Commission on the implementation of the recommendations referred to in paragraph 5 of this Article within the time limit set in those recommendations. Where, after that time limit, the Member State concerned has not complied with those recommendations, the Commission may make a proposal for a Council implementing act in accordance with Article 22(1).
8. The Commission shall inform the European Parliament and the Council of any follow-up to a monitoring exercise that it carries out. The Commission shall transmit the recommendations referred to in paragraph 5 to the European Parliament and to the Council, and shall inform them on a regular basis about the progress made by the Member State concerned in the implementation of those recommendations.
