Team members and observers
1. The team members and observers participating in evaluation and monitoring activities shall have appropriate qualifications, including a solid theoretical knowledge and experience in the areas covered by the evaluation and monitoring mechanism, along with sound knowledge of evaluation principles, procedures and techniques, and shall be able to communicate effectively in a common language.
2. Experts from the Member States which, in accordance with the relevant Act of Accession, are bound by but do not yet fully apply the Schengen acquis shall participate in evaluation and monitoring activities of all parts of the Schengen acquis .
Training of experts, observers and trainee experts
1. The Member States and the Commission, in cooperation with the relevant Union bodies, offices or agencies referred to in Article 7, shall ensure that Member State experts and Commission representatives receive adequate training to become Schengen evaluators.
The Commission shall ensure that training courses for Schengen evaluators are organised for all relevant policy areas and include the correct functioning of the authorities as well as fundamental rights components developed with the participation of the FRA.
The Commission, in close cooperation with the Member States and the relevant Union bodies, offices or agencies referred to in Article 7, shall keep up to date the initial training curricula and where needed provide follow-up and refresher training.
2. In duly justified cases, each team carrying out periodic evaluations may include one trainee expert either from a Member State or the Commission.
3. Observers shall have adequate training.
Pool of Member State experts
1. The Commission, in cooperation with the Member States, shall establish every year a pool of experts whose professional backgrounds cover policy areas, or, where relevant, the specific priority areas set out in the multiannual evaluation programme.
2. In parallel to the establishment of the annual evaluation programme in accordance with Article 13(1), on the invitation of the Commission, Member States shall designate one or more qualified experts per policy area for the following year’s pool of experts. Each Member State shall ensure that at least one designated expert per policy area is available during a calendar year. Member State may indicate the 6-month period in which a designated expert is available and preferences for a particular evaluation. The Commission shall take into account those preferences to the extent possible.
Member States shall not be required to designate experts in the areas in which, for objective reasons, they are not evaluated or, in exceptional situations, if the designation would substantially affect the discharge of national tasks. If a Member State invokes the latter, it shall provide in writing the reasons and information on the exceptional situation to the Commission.
Member States shall inform the Commission about the national contact point designated for the communication on the deployment of experts.
3. Depending on the evaluations included in the annual evaluation programme, the Commission shall further specify in the invitation the professional requirements for the experts to be designated.
4. Member States shall designate experts within 6 weeks of receiving the invitation referred to in paragraph 2.
5. Member States shall ensure that the experts designated fulfil the conditions referred to in Article 15 and the specific requirements set out in the invitation for establishing the pool of experts.
6. Experts who have received appropriate training as referred to in Article 16 shall be designated, where possible, for the pool of experts established for the year following that in which they received the relevant training course.
7. The Commission may invite the relevant Union bodies, offices and agencies referred to in Article 7 to designate observers for the pool of experts.
8. The Commission shall assess the experts designated and confirm the selection of the experts for the pool within 1 week of their designation. Within 1 month of the establishment of the pool of experts, the Commission shall inform the Member States about the selection of experts for the evaluations planned in the upcoming year, taking into account availability and preferences expressed for a particular evaluation.
9. Where none of the experts for the policy areas fulfils the requirements referred to in paragraph 3, the Commission shall invite the Member State concerned to designate a new expert for the policy area concerned.
10. Member States shall ensure that the designated experts are available for evaluations unless they are faced with an exceptional situation such as a situation that substantially affects the discharge of national tasks or a personal situation. If a Member State invokes such an exceptional situation, it shall provide, in writing, reasons and information on the situation to the Commission.
If an expert is no longer available for the pool, the Member State concerned shall designate a replacement within a reasonable amount of time.
11. The Commission shall keep the list of experts of the pool up to date and inform Member States about the number of experts and their profiles designated per Member State.
Establishment of the teams
1. The Commission shall define the number of Member State experts and Commission representatives participating in a team on the basis of the particularities and needs of the evaluation or monitoring activity. The maximum number of Commission representatives participating in a team shall be two. The minimum number of Member State experts in a team participating in an announced visit or an unannounced visit shall be three. The Commission shall select experts from the pool of experts to become members of a team.
When establishing the teams for revisits and verification visits to a given Member State, the Commission and the Member States shall strive to ensure that at least half of the Member State experts in the team are the same as those who participated in the evaluation.
2. In selecting experts, the Commission shall have regard to the profiles needed for a particular evaluation or monitoring activity, taking account of the need to ensure geographical balance and balance as regards professional experience, as well as the capacity of national administrations.
Member State experts shall not participate in a team carrying out an evaluation or monitoring activity of the Member State where they are employed.
3. The Commission shall invite the selected experts immediately after the date of the evaluation or monitoring activity is set and no later than 10 weeks before the evaluation or monitoring activity is scheduled to commence. Invited experts shall respond within 1 week of receiving the invitation, in agreement with their designating authorities.
Invitations referred to in the first subparagraph shall be sent via the designated national contact points.
4. In the case of unannounced visits, the Commission shall send the invitations via the designated national contact points no later than 2 weeks before the visit is scheduled to commence. Invited experts shall respond within 72 hours of receiving the invitation, in agreement with their designating authorities.
5. The Commission may invite the relevant Union bodies, offices and agencies referred to in Article 7 to designate a representative with relevant professional and field experience to take part as an observer in an evaluation or monitoring activity in an area covered by their mandate. The time limits set out in paragraphs 3 and 4 of this Article shall apply for the invitation and the response.
6. If a Member State wishes to designate a trainee expert referred to in Article 16(2), it shall communicate that to the Commission at least 6 weeks before the evaluation is scheduled to commence.
7. The observers referred to in paragraph 5 shall support the team as requested by the lead experts, but they shall not participate in the internal decision-making process of the team.
The trainee experts referred to in paragraph 6 shall not actively participate in the evaluation activity.
8. If the Commission fails to obtain confirmation of the participation of the required number of experts from the pool at least 6 weeks before the evaluation or monitoring activity is scheduled to commence, or at least 1 week before in the case of an unannounced visit, the Commission shall without delay invite all Member States to designate qualified experts from outside the pool for the missing places. Member States shall respond within 72 hours of receipt of that invitation.
9. The Commission shall designate a Commission lead expert and propose the Member State lead expert. The Member State lead expert shall be appointed by the members of the team as soon as possible after the team has been set up.
The lead experts shall be responsible in particular for the overall planning, preparatory activities, the organisation of the team, the carrying-out of the evaluation, the coordination of drafting the evaluation report, the presentation of the evaluation report and the recommendations, the quality check and follow-up, as well as relevant monitoring activities where appropriate.
Conduct of visits
1. The teams shall undertake all necessary preparatory activities in order to ensure that the visits are efficient, accurate and consistent.
2. The detailed programme for the visits in a Member State or in its consulates shall be established by the Commission in close cooperation with the lead experts and the Member State concerned.
The detailed programme referred to in the first subparagraph may include visits to and meetings with national authorities and bodies, as well as non-governmental and international organisations, other entities, agencies and bodies supporting the Member States in the implementation of the Schengen acquis .
3. For announced visits, the Commission shall consult and notify the Member State concerned of the timetable and detailed programme at least 6 weeks before the visit is due to take place. It shall provide in advance the names of the members of the team and the observers. The Member State concerned shall designate a contact point for making the practical arrangements for the visit.
4. Unannounced visits shall take place with prior notification of at least 24 hours to the Member State concerned. Unannounced visits to the internal borders shall take place without prior notification to the Member State concerned. Unannounced visits may take place without prior notification to the Member State concerned in cases where the Commission has substantiated grounds to consider that there are serious violations of fundamental rights in the application of the Schengen acquis. Verification visits may also take place without prior notification to the Member State concerned.
The Commission shall establish the detailed programme for unannounced visits. Where a Member State has been notified of an unannounced visit, the Commission may consult with the Member State concerned on the timetable and detailed programme.
Evaluation reports and recommendations
1. The team shall draft an evaluation report following each evaluation.
In preparing the evaluation report, the teams shall take account of the replies to the standard questionnaire, any additional information obtained in accordance with Articles 7 to 11 and verified during the evaluation activity, and the findings of the evaluation activity. The evaluation reports may include documentary and digital material to support the findings. Where an evaluation is carried out by means of a visit, the team shall draft the evaluation report during the visit.
The team shall take overall responsibility for drafting the evaluation report and ensuring its integrity and quality. In the event of a disagreement, the team shall endeavour to reach a compromise.
The Commission shall transmit the draft evaluation report containing the draft recommendations to the evaluated Member State within 4 weeks of the end of the evaluation activity. The evaluated Member State shall provide its comments on the draft evaluation report within 2 weeks of its receipt. A drafting meeting shall be held at the request of the evaluated Member State, no later than 5 working days from the receipt of the comments from the evaluated Member State. The comments of the evaluated Member State shall be reflected in the draft evaluation report where relevant.
2. The evaluation report shall analyse the qualitative, quantitative, operational, administrative and organisational aspects and shall list the deficiencies, areas of improvement and best practices identified during the evaluation.
3. Findings may be assessed as one of the following:
(a)
best practice;
(b)
improvement necessary;
(c)
non-compliant.
4. The Commission shall adopt the evaluation report by means of an implementing act. That implementing act shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 30(2). The evaluation report shall be adopted no later than 4 months after the end of the evaluation activity.
The evaluation report shall contain recommendations for remedial actions aimed at addressing the deficiencies and areas for improvement identified during the evaluation and give an indication of the priorities for implementing them. The evaluation report may set reasonable time limits established in cooperation with the Member State concerned for the implementation of recommendations. Where the evaluation identifies a serious deficiency, the specific provisions set out in Article 22 shall apply.
The Commission shall transmit the evaluation report to the European Parliament and the Council no later than 14 days after the report is adopted.
5. Where the evaluated Member State, within 10 working days from the drafting meeting, substantially contests the content of the draft evaluation report or the nature of a finding, the report to be adopted by the Commission shall be limited to findings and shall not contain recommendations. In such cases, and without prejudice to Article 22, the Commission shall submit, no later than 4 months after the end of the evaluation activity, a separate proposal to the Council for the adoption of recommendations by means of an implementing decision. The proposal may set reasonable time limits established in cooperation with the Member State for the implementation of recommendations and shall give an indication of priorities for implementing them.
The Council shall adopt the recommendations and shall transmit them to European Parliament and the national parliaments.
Follow-up and monitoring
1. Within 2 months of the adoption by the Commission of the evaluation report including recommendations, pursuant to Article 20(4), or the adoption of the Council recommendations, pursuant to Article 20(5), the evaluated Member State shall submit to the Commission and the Council an action plan to implement all the recommendations. The other Member States shall be invited to comment on the action plan.
2. After consulting the team which has carried out the evaluation activity, the Commission shall provide the evaluated Member State with a review of the adequacy of the action plan within 1 month of its submission.
If the Commission does not consider that the action plan is adequate, the evaluated Member State shall submit a revised action plan within 1 month of the receipt of the review. The Commission shall also present the review of the action plan to the Council.
3. The evaluated Member State shall report to the Commission and the Council on the implementation of its action plan every 6 months from the date of notice of receipt of the review of the action plan until the Commission considers the action plan fully implemented. Depending on the nature of the deficiencies and the state of implementation of the recommendations, the Commission, in consultation with the evaluated Member State, may require of the evaluated Member State a different reporting frequency.
If the evaluated Member State does not report regularly on the implementation of the action plan, the Commission shall inform the Council and the European Parliament that the evaluated Member State is not fulfilling its obligations.
The Commission may carry out verification visits to monitor the progress of the implementation of the action plan.
Where the Commission considers the action plan fully implemented, it shall inform the Member States about the closure of the action plan.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
