Brussels, 16 arch 2022
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Reformed mechanism to assess situation on the ground more effectively
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MEPs ask for stronger EP role, participation in revisits
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Unannounced visits if internal border controls are in place for long time and in case of fundamental rights risks
In its position on Schengen Evaluation and Monitoring Mechanism reform, the Civil Liberties Committee calls for removing all prior warnings ahead of unannounced visits.
The Civil Liberties Committee has adopted its position on reforming the Schengen Evaluation and Monitoring Mechanism, with 50 votes in favour, 13 against and 4 abstaining.
The Mechanism assesses how member states are implementing the rules of the border-free Schengen area, and the current reform aims to make the evaluation and monitoring process more effective and streamlined. In future, the Commission would plan and organise Schengen evaluation activities in seven-year cycles with flexibility, so that it can respond to acute issues.
To evaluate Schengen compliance, the Commission can make unannounced visits to member states. In these cases, the Parliament would like to see truly unannounced visits, removing the possibility of notification 24 hours before a visit, foreseen in the Commission proposal. Additionally, Parliament proposes a new category of short-notice visits to perform random compliance checks, with a warning 24 hours before. Parliament also highlighted the need to schedule unannounced visits when internal border controls have been in place for more than 180 days, and when there is evidence of fundamental rights violations.
Simplified follow-up procedures and better collaboration
The reform would also simplify post-evaluation procedures, with the currently separate steps of reports and recommendations combined into a single process. When a serious issue has been found, the member state concerned would have to immediately begin fixing the issue, and notify the Commission of its action plan for the long term. MEPs propose to clarify the consequences of serious issues and to have the Commission launch infringement procedures against member states who fail to remedy serious issues.
The reformed mechanism would also boost co-operation between actors, with the Commission and member states annually establishing a pool of national experts available for evaluation activities. When planning evaluation and monitoring activities, the Commission should also consider information submitted by third parties, for example NGOs and international organisations.
Parliament would like to see its role in the mechanism strengthened, notably with the right to nominate an observer to revisits (conducted after an initial visit that revealed a serious issue). The Parliament position also calls for the EU Fundamental Rights Agency to prepare an annual assessment on fundamental rights in relation to Schengen rules
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After the vote, rapporteur Sara Skyttedal (EPP, SV) said: “This report proposes to strengthen the Schengen evaluation mechanism in several ways. For example, we want to increase the possibility of carrying out unannounced evaluations, which is necessary to ensure that the Schengen acquis is upheld in practice. Moreover, we want to create tighter timelines and clarify the consequences when serious deficiencies have been identified.”
Next steps
The European Parliament, which has a consultation role on this file, will vote on the proposal in a future plenary session, after which the Council will move to the final adoption stage.