Specific provisions in the event of a serious deficiency identified by the evaluation report

1. At the end of the evaluation activity, the Commission and the Member State lead experts, on behalf of the team, shall inform in written form the evaluated Member State that a serious deficiency was identified. The Council shall also be informed without delay.

The evaluated Member State shall take immediate remedial actions including, where necessary, mobilising all appropriate operational and financial means. The evaluated Member State shall inform without delay the Commission and the other Member States about the immediate remedial actions taken or planned. In parallel, the Commission shall inform the relevant Union bodies, offices and agencies referred to in Article 7 of the serious deficiency with a view to their possibly providing support to the evaluated Member State.

2. The evaluation report drafted in accordance with Article 20(1), (2) and (3) shall include as a priority the findings that led to the determination of a serious deficiency. The title and the conclusion of the evaluation report shall clearly indicate that there is a serious deficiency or that there are serious deficiencies. It shall be accompanied by draft recommendations, including on immediate remedial actions. The Commission shall transmit the draft evaluation report to the evaluated Member State within 2 weeks of the end of the evaluation activity.

The evaluated Member State shall provide its comments on the draft evaluation report within 10 working days 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.

3. On duly justified imperative grounds of urgency relating to the serious deficiency, the Commission shall adopt the evaluation report no later than 6 weeks after the end of the evaluation activity by means of an immediately applicable implementing act in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 30(3). The Commission shall transmit the evaluation report to the European Parliament.

4. In light of the findings, the team shall draft recommendations for remedial actions aimed at addressing the serious deficiency identified in the evaluation report.

Within 6 weeks of the adoption of the evaluation report, the Commission shall present to the Council the evaluation report together with a proposal for recommendations for remedial actions aimed at addressing the serious deficiency identified during the evaluation and an indication of the priorities for implementing them.

The Council shall adopt recommendations within 1 month of receipt of the proposal.

The Council shall transmit the recommendations to the European Parliament and to the national parliaments.

The Council shall set proportionate time limits for the implementation of the recommendations related to a serious deficiency and specify the frequency of the reporting by the evaluated Member State to the Commission and the Council on the implementation of its action plan.

5. If a visit reveals a serious deficiency deemed to constitute a serious threat to public policy or internal security within the area without internal border control, or identified on the basis of the risk of a systematic fundamental rights violation, the Commission shall immediately inform the European Parliament and the Council thereof.

The Council shall urgently discuss the matter, and shall strive to adopt, on the basis of a proposal from the Commission, by means of an implementing act, recommendations setting out appropriate measures to remedy or limit the impact of the serious deficiency on public policy or internal security within the area without internal border control, or the systematic fundamental rights violation within 2 weeks of receipt of the proposal. The Council decision setting out the recommendations shall be without prejudice to Article 29 of Regulation (EU) 2016/399 and Article 42(1) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1896.

The Council shall transmit the recommendations to the European Parliament.

6. The evaluated Member State shall submit to the Commission and the Council its action plan within 1 month of the adoption of the recommendations. The other Member States shall be invited to comment on the action plan. The Commission shall transmit the action plan to the European Parliament.

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 2 weeks from 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 2 weeks of the receipt of the review.

The Commission shall present the review of the action plan to the Council and transmit it to the European Parliament.

The evaluated Member State shall report to the Commission and the Council on the implementation of its action plan until the Commission considers the action plan fully implemented.

7. To verify the progress made in the implementation of the recommendations related to the serious deficiency, the Commission shall organise a revisit that is to take place no later than 1 year from the date of the evaluation activity.

The team shall draft a revisit report in accordance with Article 20(1) assessing the progress made in the implementation of the Council recommendations and concluding whether the serious deficiency has been addressed.

The Commission shall adopt, by means of an implementing act, a revisit report. That implementing act shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 30(2). The Commission shall submit the revisit report to the Council.

8. The Council may express its position on the revisit report and may, where appropriate, invite the Commission to submit a proposal for recommendations for remedial actions aimed at addressing the persisting serious deficiency identified in the revisit report. In such cases, paragraphs 6 and 7 shall apply.

9. Where the Commission considers that the action plan can be closed, it shall organise a verification visit and inform the Council on the outcome of the verification visit. The Commission shall also inform the European Parliament that the action plan can be closed.

The Council shall, on the basis of the Commission proposal, while taking into account the outcome of the verification visit, adopt an implementing decision approving the closure of the action plan.

COUNCIL REGULATION (EU) 2022/922 of 9 June 2022 on the establishment and operation of an evaluation and monitoring mechanism to verify the application of the Schengen ANNEX