1. Where the relocation pledges to the Annual Solidarity Pool set out in the Council implementing act referred to in Article 57 are equal to or above 50 % of the number indicated in the Commission proposal referred to in Article 12, a benefitting Member State may request the other Member States to take responsibility for examining applications for international protection for which the benefitting Member State has been determined as responsible instead of relocations in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 69.
2. A contributing Member State may indicate to benefitting Member States its willingness to take responsibility for examining applications for international protection for which a benefitting Member State has been determined as responsible instead of relocations:
(a) where the threshold set out in paragraph 1 has been reached; or
(b) where the contributing Member State has pledged 50 % or more of its mandatory fair share to the Annual Solidarity Pool set out in the Council implementing act referred to in Article 57 as relocations.
Where a contributing Member State has indicated such willingness and the benefitting Member State agrees, the benefitting Member State shall apply the procedure set out in Article 69.
3. The contributing Member States shall take responsibility for applications for international protection for which the benefitting Member State has been determined as responsible up to the higher of the two numbers referred to in points (a) and (b) of this paragraph where, following the meeting of the High-Level Forum convened in accordance with Article 13(4), the relocation pledges to the Annual Solidarity Pool set out in the Council implementing act referred to in Article 57 are:
(a) below the number referred to in Article 12(2), point (a); or
(b) below 60 % of the reference number used to calculate each Member State’s mandatory fair share for relocation for the purpose of establishing the Annual Solidarity Pool in accordance with Article 57.
4. Paragraph 3 of this Article also applies where the pledges to be implemented during a given year fall below the higher of the two numbers referred to in points (a) or (b) of that paragraph as a result of full or partial deductions granted in accordance with Article 61 or 62 or because benefitting Member States as referred to in Articles 58(1) and 59(4) are not obliged to implement their pledged solidarity contributions for a given year.
5. A contributing Member State which has not implemented its pledges or accepted relocations pursuant to Article 67(9) equal to its pledged relocations as referred to in Article 57(3) by the end of the given year shall, at the request of the benefitting Member State, take responsibility for applications for international protection for which the benefitting Member State has been determined as responsible up to the number of relocations pledged in accordance with Article 57(3) as soon as possible after the end of a given year.
6. The contributing Member State shall identify the individual applications for which it takes responsibility pursuant to paragraphs 3 to 5 of this Article, and shall inform the benefitting Member State, using the electronic communication network set up under Article 18 of Regulation (EC) No 1560/2003.
The contributing Member State shall become the Member State responsible for the identified applications and shall indicate its responsibility pursuant to Article 16(3) of .
7. Member States shall not be obliged to take responsibility pursuant to the first subparagraph of paragraph 6 of this Article beyond their fair share calculated according to the reference key set out in Article 66.
8. This Article shall only apply where:
(a) the applicant is not an unaccompanied minor;
(b) the benefitting Member State was determined as responsible on the basis of the criteria set out in Articles 29 to 33;
(c) the transfer time limit set out in Article 46(1) has not yet expired;
(d) the applicant has not absconded from the contributing Member State;
(e) the person concerned is not a beneficiary of international protection;
(f) the person concerned is not an admitted person.
9. The contributing Member State may apply this Article to third-country nationals or stateless persons whose applications have been finally rejected in the benefitting Member State. Articles 55 and 56 of shall apply.