Following the advice of the Return Expert Group (REG) and the discussion within the Working Party on Integration, Migration and Expulsion of 14 April 2016, Member States agreed on the principle of alignment of existing AVR(R) programmes within the EU, increasing uptake of AVR(R) and minimising the differences between AVR(R) programmes across the EU with the aim of preventing return assistance shopping and misuse. The following conditions and non-binding standards which are proposed for AVR(R) schemes form a basis to achieve this goal.