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1. The Commission, in cooperation with the Member States, shall establish every year a pool of experts whose professional backgrounds cover policy areas, or, where relevant, the specific priority areas set out in the multiannual evaluation programme.

2. In parallel to the establishment of the annual evaluation programme in accordance with Article 13(1), on the invitation of the Commission, Member States shall designate one or more qualified experts per policy area for the following year’s pool of experts. Each Member State shall ensure that at least one designated expert per policy area is available during a calendar year. Member State may indicate the 6-month period in which a designated expert is available and preferences for a particular evaluation. The Commission shall take into account those preferences to the extent possible. Member States shall not be required to designate experts in the areas in which, for objective reasons, they are not evaluated or, in exceptional situations, if the designation would substantially affect the discharge of national tasks. If a Member State invokes the latter, it shall provide in writing the reasons and information on the exceptional situation to the Commission. Member States shall inform the Commission about the national contact point designated for the communication on the deployment of experts.

3. Depending on the evaluations included in the annual evaluation programme, the Commission shall further specify in the invitation the professional requirements for the experts to be designated.

4. Member States shall designate experts within 6 weeks of receiving the invitation referred to in paragraph 2.

5. Member States shall ensure that the experts designated fulfil the conditions referred to in Article 15 and the specific requirements set out in the invitation for establishing the pool of experts.

6. Experts who have received appropriate training as referred to in Article 16 shall be designated, where possible, for the pool of experts established for the year following that in which they received the relevant training course.

7. The Commission may invite the relevant Union bodies, offices and agencies referred to in Article 7 to designate observers for the pool of experts.

8. The Commission shall assess the experts designated and confirm the selection of the experts for the pool within 1 week of their designation. Within 1 month of the establishment of the pool of experts, the Commission shall inform the Member States about the selection of experts for the evaluations planned in the upcoming year, taking into account availability and preferences expressed for a particular evaluation.

9. Where none of the experts for the policy areas fulfils the requirements referred to in paragraph 3, the Commission shall invite the Member State concerned to designate a new expert for the policy area concerned.

10. Member States shall ensure that the designated experts are available for evaluations unless they are faced with an exceptional situation such as a situation that substantially affects the discharge of national tasks or a personal situation. If a Member State invokes such an exceptional situation, it shall provide, in writing, reasons and information on the situation to the Commission. If an expert is no longer available for the pool, the Member State concerned shall designate a replacement within a reasonable amount of time.

11. The Commission shall keep the list of experts of the pool up to date and inform Member States about the number of experts and their profiles designated per Member State.