Procedure for submission of a joint proposal under Article 57(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/696
Article 4
1. The applicant Member Statesshall draft a joint proposaland submit it to the Commission. The proposal is to comply with the criteria listed in Article 57(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/696, as set out in Article 7 of this Decision. 2. The Commission shall evaluate the proposal. The Commission may communicate with the applicant Member States by sending questions and comments on the proposal to the Member State contact point referred to in Article 7(1). Applicant Member States shall reply within four weeks and, if appropriate, update the proposal. The answers shall be sent by the Member State designated to serve as contact point in the exchanges with the Commission according to Article 7(1). 3. Applicant Member States shall be informed of the outcome of the analysis performed by the Commission both by registered post mail and in electronic format. 4. The proposal referred to in paragraph 1 shall be submitted within a period of 18 months after the publication of Regulation (EU) 2021/696. Upon the request of the Member States or the Commission, that period can be extended by 3 months.