Text proposed by the Commission Amendment

‘Article 25a ‘Article 25a

Cooperation on readmission Cooperation on readmission

1. Article 14 (6), Article 16(1) and (5), point (b) , Article 23(1), and Article 24(2) shall not apply to applicants or categories of applicants , who are nationals of a third country that is considered not to be cooperating sufficiently with Member States on the readmission of irregular migrants, on the basis of relevant and objective data, in accordance with this Article . This Article is without prejudice to the powers conferred on the Commission by Article 24(2d). 1. Depending on third countries’ levels of cooperation with Member States on the readmission of irregular migrants, assessed on the basis of relevant and objective data, the application of Article 16(1a) and (5), point (b) and Article 24(2) hereafter may be adjusted for categories of applicants or all applicants with the nationality of that third country as specified in paragraph 4 .

This article is without prejudice to the powers conferred on the Commission by Article 24(2d)

2. The Commission shall regularly assess third countries' cooperation with regard to readmission, taking account, in particular, of the following indicators: 2. The Commission shall regularly, at least once a year , assess relevant third countries’ cooperation with regard to readmission, taking account, in particular, of the following indicators:

(a) the number of return decisions issued to persons illegally staying on the territory of the Member States from the third country in question ; (a) the number of third-country nationals who are subject to an administrative or judicial decision in accordance with Directive 2008/115/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council;

(b) the number of actual returns of persons issued with return decisions as a percentage of the number of return decisions issued to citizens of the third country in question including, where appropriate, on the basis of Union or bilateral readmission agreements, the number of third country nationals who have transited through its territory;

(c) the number of readmission requests accepted by the third country as a percentage of the number of such applications submitted to it. (b) the number of readmission requests by a Member State accepted by the third country as a percentage of the number of such applications submitted to it;

(c) the levels of practical cooperation in the area of return at the different stages of the return procedure, such as:

(i) timely assistance of identification procedures; (ii) delivery and acceptance of necessary travel documents;

The Commission shall report the results of its assessment to the European Parliament and the Council, which shall discuss the matter, in particular with regard to the level of cooperation with the relevant third country in the readmission of irregular migrants.

In particular, the following elements shall be considered to assess a country’s cooperation on readmission:

(a) participation in pilot projects on labour migration, thus contributing to the desincentivizing irregular migration;

(b) demonstrated efforts to reintegrate returnees and ensure the sustainability of returns;

(c) demonstrated efforts to fight against trafficking and smuggling and ensuing violations of rights of involved individuals (participation in capacity building and training activities including on preventing abuse and exploitation).

The Parliament shall be informed by the Commission of the conclusions of the assessment.

3. A Member State may also notify the Commission if it is confronted with substantial and persisting practical problems in the cooperation with a third country in the readmission of irregular migrants on the basis of the same indicators as those listed in paragraph 2. 3. A Member State may also notify the Commission if it observes substantial and persisting problems as well as substantial cooperation improvement encountered with a third country in the readmission of irregular migrants on the basis of the same indicators as those listed in paragraph 2.

4. The Commission shall examine any notification made pursuant to paragraph 3 within a period of one month. The Commission shall examine any notification within a period of 15 days . The Commission shall immediately inform the Council and the Parliament of the results of its examination .

5. Where, on the basis of the analysis referred to in paragraphs 2 and 4 , the Commission decides that a country is not cooperating sufficiently , and that action is therefore needed, it may, taking also account of the Union’s overall relations with the third country concerned, adopt an implementing act, in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 52(2) : 4. Where, on the basis of the analysis referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3 , taking account of the Union’s overall relations with the third country concerned, especially in cooperation in the field of readmission, and taking into account the assessment and discussions referred to in paragraph 2, the Commission decides that a country is :

(a) temporarily suspending the application of either Article 14(6), Article 16(5) point (b), Article 23(1), or Article 24(2), or of some or all of those provisions, to all nationals on the third country concerned or to certain categories thereof, or (a) cooperating sufficiently, it shall adopt an implementing act, in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 52(2a), for certain categories of nationals or for all nationals of the third country concerned applying for visa on the territory of that third country:

(i) lowering the visa fee according to Article 16(2a); (ii) reducing the time within which decisions on an application shall be made, according to Article 23(1a); (iii) increasing the period of validity of multiple entry visas according to the last subparagraph of Article 24(2); and/or (iv) facilitating participation in labour migration projects;

(b) applying the visa fee set out in Article 16(2a) to all nationals of the third country concerned or to certain categories thereof. (b) not cooperating sufficiently, it may, taking also account of the Union’s overall relations with the third country concerned, adopt an implementing act, in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 52(2a):

(i) temporarily modifying the application of either Article 14(6) or of Article 23(1), or temporarily suspending Article 16(5b), Article 23(1), or some of their provisions, or Article 24(2) .’

6. The Commission shall continuously assess on the basis of the indicators set out in paragraph 2 whether significant improvement in the given third country's cooperation on readmission of irregular migrants can be established and, taking also account of the Union’s overall relations with the third country concerned, may decide to repeal or amend the implementing act referred to in paragraph 5.