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(1) The Schengen area without border control at internal borders relies on the effective and efficient application by the Member States of the Schengen acquis. That acquis comprises measures in the area of external borders, compensatory measures for the absence of controls at internal borders and a strong monitoring framework, which together strengthen free movement and ensure a high level of security, justice and protection of fundamental rights, including the protection of personal data.

(2) Peer-to-peer evaluation and monitoring of the application of the Schengen acquis have been core elements of the Schengen area since 1998 and contribute to maintaining a high level of accountability and ownership of results and to strengthening mutual trust among Member States.

(3) A specific Schengen evaluation and monitoring mechanism was established by Council Regulation (EU) No 1053/2013 and became operational in 2015.

(4) In order to increase its effectiveness and efficiency, the Schengen evaluation and monitoring mechanism should be enhanced. The revised evaluation and monitoring mechanism should aim to maintain a high level of mutual trust among Member States by ensuring that Member States apply the Schengen acquis effectively in accordance with the agreed common standards, fundamental principles and norms, thereby contributing to a well-functioning Schengen area.

(5) The evaluation and monitoring mechanism should achieve its goals through objective and impartial evaluations that are able to quickly identify deficiencies in the application of the Schengen acquis that could disrupt the correct functioning of the Schengen area, ensure that those deficiencies are swiftly addressed, and provide the basis for a dialogue on the functioning of the Schengen area as a whole. In accordance with Article 70 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), objective and impartial evaluation of the implementation of the Union policies within the area of freedom, security and justice is to be conducted by Member States in collaboration with the Commission. This requires close cooperation between the Member States and the Commission, a balanced distribution of shared responsibilities and the maintenance of the peer-review nature of the system. It also requires an enhanced role for the Council and the close involvement of the European Parliament. Given the extent of the changes to the evaluation and monitoring mechanism established by Regulation (EU) No 1053/2013, that Regulation should be repealed and replaced by a new Regulation.

(6) The evaluation and monitoring mechanism should be able to cover all areas of the Schengen acquis – present and future, in particular the management of the external borders, the absence of controls at internal borders, visa policy, return, large-scale information systems supporting the application of the Schengen acquis, police cooperation, judicial cooperation in criminal matters, and data protection – except those where a specific evaluation mechanism already exists under Union law. The evaluation and monitoring mechanism should encompass all relevant legislation and operational activities which are part of the Schengen acquis and which contribute to the functioning of Schengen area.

(7) The correct functioning of the authorities that apply the Schengen acquis should be taken into account in all the evaluations in line with the European Council conclusions of 1 and 2 March 2012. The evaluation should also cover the practices of private entities, such as airlines or external service providers, insofar as they are involved in or affected by the implementation of the Schengen acquis while cooperating with the Member States.

(8) Given the increasing role of Union bodies, offices and agencies in the implementation of the Schengen acquis, the evaluation and monitoring mechanism should support the verification of the activities of those Union bodies, offices and agencies insofar as they perform functions on behalf of the Member States to assist in the operational application of provisions of the Schengen acquis. Verification of those activities in this regard should be embedded into the evaluation of the Member States, reflected in the report and carried out without prejudice to and in a manner that fully respects the responsibilities of the Commission and the relevant governing bodies of the agencies, offices and bodies concerned under their establishing regulations and their own evaluation and monitoring procedures therein. Where evaluations identify deficiencies in relation to functions fulfilled or supported by Union bodies, offices and agencies, the Commission should inform their relevant governing bodies, as well as the Council and the European Parliament.

(9) Evaluation and monitoring activities should be targeted, taking into account the results of previous evaluations, risk analyses, new legislation, information obtained by the Commission in accordance with this Regulation and, if relevant, the results of national quality-control mechanisms. They should be supported through reinforced cooperation with Union bodies, offices and agencies participating in the implementation of the Schengen acquis in order to provide relevant information and expertise for the planning or conducting of evaluation or monitoring activities, through the systematic involvement of such bodies, offices and agencies in Schengen evaluations, including by nominating observers to participate in the evaluations, and through improved risk analyses and information sharing, including on corruption and organised crime insofar as these may undermine the application of the Schengen acquis by the Member States. Such cooperation and involvement concern in particular the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex), governed by Regulation (EU) 2019/1896 of the European Parliament and of the Council , the European Union Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (eu-LISA), established by Regulation (EU) 2018/1726 of the European Parliament and of the Council , the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol), established by Regulation (EU) 2016/794 of the European Parliament and of the Council , the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), established by Council Regulation (EC) No 168/2007 , and the European Data Protection Supervisor, established by Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council . The cooperation should also become more reciprocal, and the agencies should not only be contributors but also benefit from being involved in the evaluation and monitoring mechanism, thereby ensuring their enhanced operational response. In order to avoid any conflict of interest where the activities of a Union body, office or agency involved in the implementation of the Schengen acquis, insofar as they perform functions on behalf of the Member States to assist in the operational application of provisions of the Schengen acquis, are verified as part of the evaluation of a Member State, observers from a Union body, office or agency should not participate in the discussions on the findings related to the activity of that Union body, office or agency.

(10) The vulnerability assessment carried out by Frontex is a complementary mechanism to the evaluation and monitoring mechanism established by this Regulation for ensuring quality control at Union level and ensuring constant preparedness at both Union and national level to respond to any challenges at the external border. That vulnerability assessment should be taken into account in preparing the evaluation and monitoring activities, thus ensuring up-to-date situational awareness. Both mechanisms constitute a component of European integrated border management. Synergies between the vulnerability assessment and the evaluation and monitoring mechanism should be maximised with a view to establishing an improved situational picture of the functioning of the Schengen area, avoiding, to the extent possible, duplication of efforts and conflicting recommendations. For that purpose, regular exchange of information between Frontex and the Commission on the results of both mechanisms should take place. In order to increase the strategic focus and achieve a more targeted evaluation design, it is also necessary to further increase synergies with the relevant mechanisms and platforms operated by Union agencies and national administrations, such as the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats (EMPACT), and with the oversight conducted by the Commission with the support of eu-LISA as regards the preparation of the Member States for the implementation of relevant IT systems as well as with the findings of the national quality-control mechanisms, if relevant.

(11) During the evaluation, particular attention should be paid to verifying respect for fundamental rights in the application of the Schengen acquis, in addition to the evaluation of the correct implementation and application of the data protection requirements of the Schengen acquis carried out by separate evaluations. To increase the capacity of the evaluation and monitoring mechanism to identify violations of fundamental rights in relevant policy areas, additional measures should be implemented. Schengen evaluators should be properly trained in this regard, relevant information from the FRA should be better utilised and its experts better involved in the design and implementation of evaluations. Furthermore, it should be possible for evidence which is made public or provided through independent monitoring mechanisms or by relevant third parties, such as ombudspersons, authorities monitoring respect for fundamental rights, and non-governmental and international organisations, at their own initiative, to be taken into account in the programming and design of evaluations. In the implementation of the evaluations, such as conducts of visits, the entities and third parties supporting the Member States should be understood as those which are legally or contractually linked to the latter, and allowed to perform certain tasks on their behalf in the application of the Schengen acquis. In preparing the evaluation reports, only information verified during the evaluation activity should be taken into account.

(12) The evaluation and monitoring mechanism should set up transparent, efficient and clear rules on the forms and methods to be applied for the evaluation and monitoring activities, the use of highly qualified experts and the follow-up to the findings of the evaluations.

(13) The forms of evaluations and methods should be made more flexible to increase the efficiency of the evaluation and monitoring mechanism and its capacity to adapt to new circumstances and legislative developments and to streamline the use of the resources of the Member States, Commission and the Union bodies, offices and agencies. Periodic evaluations through visits should be the primary means of evaluation. Unannounced evaluations and thematic evaluations should be used in a balanced way, on the basis of risk analyses, following the adoption of new legislation or on the basis of information obtained by the Commission in accordance with this Regulation. The forms of evaluation should be clearly defined. Depending on the policy area and the nature of the evaluation and monitoring activity, the evaluation and monitoring mechanism should allow for the evaluation of several Member States at the same time and, in exceptional cases, should make it possible to conduct entirely or partly remote evaluations and combine the evaluation of policy areas. Under the evaluation and monitoring mechanism, it should be possible to produce comprehensive Member State evaluation reports assessing the Member State’s overall performance in the application of the Schengen acquis.