1.Where the Commission appoints an independent expert to carry out evaluations on its behalf pursuant to Article 92(2) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, it shall take into account, for the purposes of assessing the independence of that expert from any provider of AI system or general-purpose AI model in accordance with Article 68(2)(b) of that Regulation, the existence of shared ownership, governance, management, personnel, or resources of the expert concerned, any previous appointment to conduct evaluations on behalf of the Commission, as well as the existence of contractual relationships between the expert and the provider concerned or any other provider over at least the 12 months prior, to the evaluation carried out by the Commission. The appointed expert shall remain independent throughout the period of appointment. Each appointed independent expert shall make a declaration of interest within the meaning of Article 10(3) of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/454note.