Regulation 2023/2667
OJ L 000 07.12.2023, p. 0000

00041/2023/LEX

The European Parliament adopted by 573 votes to 36, with 16 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulations (EC) No 767/2008, (EC) No 810/2009 and (EU) 2017/2226 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Council Regulations (EC) No 1683/95, (EC) No 333/2002, (EC) No 693/2003 and (EC) No 694/2003 and Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement, as regards the digitalisation of the visa procedure.

The aim of the regulation, that is the establishment of the EU Visa Application Platform (EU VAP) and the introduction of a digital visa, build on other initiatives aiming, on the one hand, at streamlining and harmonising the procedures in the context of the common visa policy and, on the other hand, at aligning travel, entry requirements and border checks within the Schengen Area with the new digital era.

The European Parliament's position, adopted at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure, should amend the proposal as follows:

Common digital platform for all Member States

The EU Visa Application Platform (EU VAP) should be developed to allow visa applicants to apply for a visa online , regardless of the Member State of destination . It should automatically determine which Member State is competent to examine an application, in particular in cases where the applicant intends to visit several Member States.

The EU VAP should provide the applicant with:

- up-to-date and easily accessible information and the conditions for entry on the territory of the Member States, in formats that take into account visual impairments;

- a guidance tool with which the applicant can find all the necessary information regarding visa requirements and procedures, such as, but not limited to whether and what type of visa is required; the amount of the visa fee; the Member State competent for handling the application; which supporting documents are required; whether an appointment is necessary to collect biometric identifiers and whether it is possible to apply online without an appointment;

- documents in a printable format and should include a communication mechanism, such as a chatbot , to answer questions of the applicants as well as information on the processing of personal data in the context of the VIS.

To enable applicants to save information relating to their application, the EU VAP should be able to store data temporarily and strictly for as long as this is necessary for the completion of relevant tasks.

Submission of requests

Appearing in person at the consulate or external service provider should, in principle, be mandatory only for first time applicants and applicants who have acquired a new travel document which needs to be verified, and for the collection of biometric identifiers. However, in cases of doubt concerning the travel document, supporting documents, or both, or in individual cases in a particular location where there is a high incidence of fraudulent documents, Member States should retain the possibility to ask the applicant to appear in person.

Member States should allow the following categories of persons to lodge an application without using the EU VAP: (it) third-country nationals for humanitarian reasons; (ii) third-country nationals in justified individual cases or in cases of force majeure ; (iii) heads of State or government and members of a national government with accompanying spouses, and the members of their official delegation when they are invited by Member States’ governments or by international organisations for an official purpose.

Each applicant should submit a completed application form using the EU VAP. The online application form, including a declaration of the authenticity, completeness, correctness and reliability of the data submitted and a declaration of the veracity and reliability of the statements made, should be signed electronically by ticking the appropriate box in the application form. When applying for a visa, applicants should provide proof of supporting documents.

Verification of requests

The EU VAP should conduct an automated admissibility pre-check to verify whether the information provided by the applicant fulfils the admissibility requirements for the requested visa. It should notify the applicant if any information is missing and provide the applicant with the possibility to correct the application.

The platform should conduct an automated competence pre-check to pre-determine the competent Member State on the basis of the information provided by the applicant. However, the applicant should be able to indicate that the application be processed by another Member State on the basis of the main purpose of stay. The consulate or the central authorities of that other Member State concerned should then verify whether they are competent to examine the application.

Data protection

The architecture of the EU VAP should ensure data protection by design and by default, the respect of the principle of data minimisation and that, when operational, the EU VAP is implemented in a way that respects access rights under the relevant existing national and Union law.

The text clarifies the role and the responsibilities of the different actors involved in the processing of the data collected from applicants and visa holders.

The applicant must be informed by electronic message of any new information concerning the application or visa. The decision taken by the competent Member State indicating whether the visa is issued, refused, confirmed to a new travel document, extended, annulled or revoked, should be made available to the applicant in a secure account service on the EU VAP.

Role of eu-Lisa

eu-LISA should ensure that the EU visa application platform has sufficient capacity and functionality to enable Member States to join it during the transitional period. The development by eu-LISA of the EU visa application platform and its interconnection with national visa information systems, as well as the operation of the platform by eu-LISA LISA, including maintenance, should be financed by the general budget of the Union.

T9-0370/2023

Debate in Parliament

PE750.204
GEDA/A/(2023)003992

GEDA/A/(2023)003992

PE750.204

The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs adopted the report by Matjaž NEMEC (S&D, SL) on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulations (EC) No 767/2008, (EC) No 810/2009 and (EU) 2017/2226 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Council Regulations (EC) No 1683/95, (EC) No 333/2002, (EC) No 693/2003 and (EC) No 694/2003 and Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement, as regards the digitalisation of the visa procedure.

The aim of the proposed Regulation is to digitalise the Schengen visa process, replacing the visa sticker, and introducing the possibility to submit visa applications online through the European online visa platform. A common digital platform will significantly contribute to improving the image of the EU and the Member States ensuring a coherent visa policy and will significantly reduce the number of visa procedures resulting from the loss or exchange of a travel document.

The committee responsible recommended that the European Parliament's position adopted at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the proposal as follows:

Quality system

Member States should ensure that the service offered to the public is of a high standard and follows good administrative practices. They should allocate appropriate numbers of trained staff and sufficient resources to facilitate as much as possible the visa application process. A ‘one-stop’ principle should be applied to all applicants.

The new system should also enhance the protection of people with disabilities and address the issues relating to digital literacy and internet accessibility, as well as the language accessibility issues of the EU application platform and the procedure.

Flagged IP addresses

In certain third countries internet network coverage is still extremely limited. Particular attention should be given to circumstances where several applications are launched from the same location and the same IP address. Flagged IP address alone or the potential duplication of IP addresses should not, in itself, automatically lead to the disqualification of the visa application or be a premise for refusing to grant a visa.

Visa fees

For applications submitted via the EU application platform, the visa fee should be charged in euro and should be half the amount of the original visa fee. The fee should not be refundable except in certain cases.

Issuing of a visa with limited territorial validity

The report states that a visa with limited territorial validity issued for humanitarian grounds or because of international obligations could also refer to a visa allowing the holder to enter the territory of the Member State issuing the visa for the purpose of making an application for international protection in that Member State.

Refusal of a visa

For applications submitted via the EU application platform, as soon as the refusal decision is available, the applicant should be notified by electronic means. A decision on refusal and the reasons on which it is based should be made available to the applicant in the secure account.

The refusal decision should be in the language of the Member State that has taken the final decision on the application, another official language of the Union, and the official language(s) of the host country or widely spoken unofficial language(s) of the host country.

The period of the appeal should be initiated once the visa applicant receives the notification of the refusal decision via the EU application platform or via receipt of the standard form described in Annex VI.

Lastly, the report proposes to strengthen the responsibility and mandate of eu-LISA and the national authorities at the different stages of data processing.

A9-0025/2023

PE739.518

CES2915/2022

PE737.330

PE732.719

OJ C 277 19.07.2022, p. 0007
N9-0041/2022

SEC(2022)0202

EUR-Lex
SWD(2022)0658

EUR-Lex
SWD(2022)0659

COM(2022)0658
EUR-Lex

COM(2022)0658
EUR-Lex