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1. A Member State shall examine an application in a border procedure in the cases referred to in Article 43(1) where any of the circumstances referred to in Article 42(1), point (c), (f) or (j), apply.

2. Where the circumstances referred to in Article 42(1), point (f), apply and without prejudice to Article 54, Member States shall take appropriate measures to maintain as far as possible family unity in the border procedure.

3. For the purposes of paragraph 2, in order to maintain family unity, ‘members of that applicant’s family’ shall be understood as meaning, in so far as the family already existed before the applicant arrived on the territory of the Member States, the following members of the applicant’s family who are present on the territory of the same Member State in relation to the application for international protection:

(a) the spouse of the applicant or his or her unmarried partner in a stable relationship, where the law or practice of the Member State concerned treats unmarried couples as equivalent to married couples;

(b) the minor children of couples as referred to in point (a) or of the applicant, on condition that they are unmarried and regardless of whether they were born in or out of wedlock or adopted as defined under national law;

(c) where the applicant is a minor and unmarried, the father, mother or another adult responsible for the applicant, whether by the law or practice of the Member State in which the adult is present;

(d) where the applicant is a minor and unmarried, the sibling or siblings of the applicant, provided they are unmarried and minors. For the purposes of points (b), (c) and (d) of the first subparagraph, on the basis of an individual assessment, a minor shall be considered unmarried if his or her marriage could not be contracted in accordance with the national law of the Member State concerned, in particular having regard to the legal age of marriage.

4. Where, on the basis of information obtained in the framework of monitoring carried out pursuant to Articles 14 and 15 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2303, the Commission has grounds to consider that a Member State is not complying with the requirements laid down in Article 54(2), it shall recommend, without delay, the suspension of the application of the border procedure to families with minors pursuant to Article 53(2), point (b). The Commission shall make that recommendation public. The Member State concerned shall take utmost account of the Commission’s recommendation with respect to its obligations under Article 53(2), point (b), and with a view to addressing any shortcomings identified to ensure full compliance with the requirements of Article 54(2). The Member State concerned shall inform the Commission of the measures taken to give effect to the recommendation.