Each Member State will be evaluated at least twice during the 7-year evaluation cycle as part of the annual and multiannual evaluation programmes.
Commission report and recommendation
An evaluation is followed by a Commission report which includes recommendations for remedial action that the evaluated country should undertake, and the priorities for implementing them with the possibility of setting a deadline for the implementation.
Member State action plan
Within two months of the adoption of the report, the Member State concerned is required to submit an action plan setting out how it intends to remedy the identified weaknesses.
The Commission reviews the implementation of the plan on a regular basis, and may require that the Member State concerned provides a revision. In addition, the Commission, Frontex or other EU bodies, agencies or offices can assist Member States in fulfilling the recommendations via practical and financial measures. EU funds in the field of Home Affairs specifically provide for the possibility for the Member States to implement the Schengen Evaluation Working Group (SCHE-VAL) recommendations with their support.
Remedy of serious deficiencies
In case a serious deficiency is identified, the evaluated Member State has to start immediately implementing actions to remedy the deficiency even before the evaluation report is adopted, and will have to inform immediately the Commission and Member States of the measures taken.
The report and Council recommendations have to be adopted within two and a half months from the end of the evaluation. A revisit to verify the implementation of remedial actions will take place no later than one year following the evaluation. For closer political scrutiny, the Commission will immediately inform the Council and the European Parliament of the existence of a serious deficiency.
In exceptional circumstances, where persistent serious deficiencies in a Member States’ control of its external borders have been identified and, when it is clear that measures taken by the evaluated member state are not sufficient to ensure the adequate remedy of these deficiencies, border controls may be reintroduced temporarily. However, this is a step of last resort and would be used only if all other measures, such as operational support from Frontex, were ineffective in mitigating a serious threat.
