- first-time evaluation
means an evaluation to verify whether a Member State bound by the Schengen acquis and for which internal border controls have not been lifted fulfils the conditions to apply the Schengen acquis in full or, in the case of a Member State not participating in the Schengen acquis and which has been authorised by the Council to apply parts of the Schengen acquis, to verify whether the Member State fulfils the conditions to apply the Schengen acquis in part;
- non-compliant finding
means an assessment of a finding according to which national laws, regulations and administrative measures, or their implementation, do not comply with the legally binding provisions of the Schengen acquis;
- observer
means an expert designated by a Union body, office or agency referred to in Article 7 participating in an evaluation or monitoring activity;
- periodic evaluation
means an evaluation included in the multiannual evaluation programme and annual evaluation programmes to verify the application of the Schengen acquis by a Member State with a view to assessing the Member State’s overall performance in the application of the Schengen acquis;
- revisit
means a supplementary visit following an evaluation that identified a serious deficiency or following a first-time evaluation that concluded that the evaluated Member State did not fulfil the necessary conditions to apply the Schengen acquis;
- Schengen acquis
means the provisions integrated into the framework of the Union in accordance with Protocol No 19 on the Schengen acquis integrated into the framework of the European Union, annexed to the TEU and the TFEU, together with the acts building upon them or otherwise related to them;
- serious deficiency
means a general assessment of the situation attributed to one or more non-compliant findings which concern the effective application of the Schengen acquis and which, individually or in combination, risk to constitute a violation of fundamental rights or which have, or risk to have over time, a significant negative impact on one or more Member States or on the functioning of the area without internal border control;
- team
means a group comprising experts designated by Member States and Commission representatives who carry out evaluation and monitoring activities;
- thematic evaluation
means an evaluation, included in the annual evaluation programme, aimed at providing an analysis of Member States’ legislation or practices in the application of the Schengen acquis, or the application of its specific parts across several Member States;
- trainee expert
means an expert designated by a Member State or a Commission representative to be trained to become a Schengen evaluator.
- unannounced evaluation
means an evaluation, not included in the multiannual and annual evaluation programmes, to verify the application of the Schengen acquis by one or more Member States in one or more policy areas;
- verification visit
means a supplementary visit, other than a revisit, carried out to monitor the progress of the implementation of an action plan;
- visit
means a visit to a Member State or to its consulates for the purpose of carrying out an evaluation or monitoring activity;