Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2022)658 - Amending various regulations as regards the digitalisation of the visa procedure - Main contents

Please note

This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.

dossier	COM(2022)658 - Amending various regulations as regards the digitalisation of the visa procedure.
source	COM(2022)658
date	27-04-2022

1. CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL

• Reasons for and objectives of the proposal

The EU common visa policy is an essential element in ensuring the security and proper functioning of the external borders of the Schengen area. It facilitates legitimate stay in or transit through Schengen countries and has contributed to the harmonisation of the Member States visa issuing practices. To maintain a high level of internal security, safeguard the free movement of persons in the Schengen Area, and facilitate legitimate travel to the EU by third country nationals whilst reducing irregular migration, the Member States are currently working on improving the management of their common external borders.

Since the entry into force of the Visa Code in 2010 ¹ and the start of operations of the Visa Information System (VIS) in 2011 ² , the environment in which the visa policy operates has changed considerably. On the one hand migration and security challenges have increased in recent years; on the other significant technological developments provide new opportunities to make the Schengen visa application process smoother for both travellers and consulates.

While visa processing is already partially digitalised, with applications and decisions recorded in the VIS, two important steps remain paper-based: the visa application process and the visa sticker. These two steps create a burden for all stakeholders, from central national public authorities, i.e. ministries of home and foreign affairs, to consulates and applicants. Member States are aware of this and a certain number of them have partially digitised their application process to make it more efficient and user-friendly.

At EU level, in 2017, the Estonian Council Presidency opened the discussion in the Visa Working Party of the Council ³ on options to improve the current visa process with an online visa application ⁴ and a digital visa. ⁵ This political impetus, together with current and future legislative changes, i.e. the revised Visa Code, ⁶ the VIS revision, ⁷ the Entry/Exit System (EES), ⁸ and the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS), ⁹ led the Commission to issue a Communication of 14 March 2018 ¹⁰ on adapting the common visa policy to new challenges and to launch a reflection on the move towards digital visas.

The March 2018 Commission communication on visa policy took on board the idea of “e-visas”. As announced in this Commission communication, a feasibility study on the digitalisation of visas procedures was carried out in 2019 and its results have been used in the context of the impact assessment accompanying this proposal. In addition, a project to develop an EU platform prototype was also carried out by the EU Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (eu-LISA) in 2020-2021 in close coordination with the Commission and Member States. The lessons learnt from this prototype will be used for the development of the future EU application platform.

When revising the EU Visa Code in 2019, the European Parliament and the Council explicitly stated the aim of developing a common solution to allow Schengen visa applications to be lodged online in the future, thereby making full use of the recent legal and technological developments ¹¹ . The COVID-19 pandemic, which led to the slowing down of Schengen visa operations worldwide partly due to the difficulty of receiving visa applicants in consulates and visa application centres, prompted Member States to call upon the Commission to speed up work on digitalisation of visa procedures. The New Pact on Migration and Asylum ¹² proposed by the Commission on 23 September 2020 set the objective of making the visa procedure fully digitalised by 2025, with the introduction of a digital visa and the ability to submit visa applications online.

Nationals of 102 third countries are currently required to hold a valid visa in order to cross the EU external borders. ¹³ Visas are issued by Member States through a network of consulates in third countries. ¹⁴ In the projections used in the impact assessment accompanying this proposal ¹⁵ , the number of short-stay visas is expected to slightly increase until 2025 and then stabilise.

By introducing the possibility for visa applicants to sign application forms electronically, the amended Visa Code ¹⁶ has created the possibility for the digital submission and processing of visa applications; however, most Member States only digitalised parts of the short stay visa process and still rely heavily on paper-based procedures. As a result, the degree of digitalisation as well as the visa application process differs from one Member State to another.

The current fragmentation in terms of national practices for managing the application process negatively affects the functioning of the EU Visa policy applied and the perception of the European Union as a single geographical entity and makes the visa application process burdensome for visa applicants

Besides, since the current short-stay visas rules at EU level do not lay down any digitalisation obligation to Member States, the current paper-based procedures generate high management costs for Member States associated with handling paper applications.

Furthermore, the physical visa sticker is prone to falsification and fraud (e.g. forgery and counterfeiting) and can be stolen, which represents a security risk. The visa sticker was introduced in 1995, and has been regularly updated to improve its security features ever since. The most recent innovation is the introduction of a signed 2D-barcode on the visa sticker ¹⁷ which will enter into force on 1 May 2022 ¹⁸ . Nevertheless, the visa sticker is likely to remain vulnerable to counterfeiting or falsification.

Another risk identified in relation to the current situation is the risk of visa shopping by applicants. Heterogeneity in the way an application can be submitted can potentially create an incentive for visa applicants to choose to lodge an application at a Member State with a more digitalised application procedure, which would be different from the Member State that would otherwise be competent for the examination of the visa application.

In addition, third countries that compete directly with the EU in attracting third country visitors, such as Australia and New Zealand, already have fully digitalised processes in place for all foreign nationals that are subject to visa requirements. Other countries (e.g. UK, US, Canada, [Russia,] India) have digitised the process to facilitate visa-required third country nationals from certain key countries in quickly and easily obtaining an electronic travel authorization instead of a visa for certain travel purposes. These procedures are to a great extent comparable to European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS). In comparison, the visa application procedure to visit the EU is quite complex and cumbersome ¹⁹ . The global digitalisation trend, together with travellers’ expectations for increasingly fast, modern and simple procedures could leave the EU lagging behind and provoke economic disadvantages for the EU, notably for the EU industry as international travels contribute positively to the EU GDP, in particular to the tourism industry.

Consequently, the costs of non-action at EU level could increase over time. Without digitalisation, Member States would continue to face a heavy administrative burden to manage visa processes, visa applicants would continue to undergo costly and time-consuming procedures and the risks attached to the security of the visa sticker would continue to exist.

The main problems identified in relation to Member States’ authorities dealing with visa application and visa issuing are:

·The lengthy process and accumulating costs for consulates to manage, process and archive (and eventually destroy) paper documents. The dependence of Member States on external service providers to fulfil their obligations relating to visa management in a context of an increase of visa applications and the obligation for third country nationals to visit the consulate or a visa application centre each time they need to apply. On average, 90% of short-stay visas applications are submitted through external service providers. This also involves large-scale contracts and monitoring costs and additional costs for visa applicants.

·The paper-based process is not threat or risk-proof. The COVID-19 pandemic had a substantial impact on the visa procedure as it systematically requires the physical presence of the applicant at a consulate or an external service provider at key stages of the Schengen visa application procedure.

·The physical visa sticker is prone to falsification and fraud (e.g. forgery and counterfeiting), and it needs to be transported and securely stored. ²⁰

·Increased risk of visa shopping by applicants. Applicants might be tempted to apply for a visa to a Member State that offers an expeditious visa application process instead of the Member State they actually want to visit.

The current procedure is also complex and burdensome for visa applicants.

·Visa applicants have to travel to the nearest consulate or visa application centre for each application and leave the travel document behind, which makes it more difficult to identify oneself and to travel abroad during the application process.

·Frequent travellers need to repeat the same lengthy procedure for each application, which may differ depending on the Member State of destination.

·Applicants also pay additional fees when applying through an external service provider.

The root causes of these problems are the legal requirements for Member States to issue a paper visa sticker, Member States’ reliance on in-person and paper-based practices, and the heterogeneous level of digitalisation and fragmented visa procedures across the Member States.

Therefore, the digitalisation of visa procedures offers an opportunity to improve the visa application process, reducing the costs and the burden on stakeholders, while improving the security of the Schengen area. Moreover, the digitalisation of the visa process is in line with recent legislative developments ²¹ relating to the IT landscape for border management, contributing to enhanced security of the Schengen Area.

• Consistency with existing policy provisions in the policy area

1. The digitalisation of the visa application procedure and the implementation of a digital visa is consistent with several major developments in the field of visa and border policy:

·The revision of the Visa Code in 2020, which made it easier for regular travellers to apply for visas with a longer validity and allowed electronic visa applications (used by a few Member States) and electronic signature (not used by Member States so far).

·The recently revised Visa Information System (VIS) Regulation ²² .

·The European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) ²³ , which is part of the Smart Border and interoperability framework and introduces an online travel authorisation for third country nationals who do not require a visa. This travel authorisation differs from the visa procedure, which requires submission of the biometrics and physical presence of applicants to mitigate the higher migration and security risks of visa-required third countries.

·The Entry-Exit System (EES), which will be operational in 2022 and will require every traveller visiting the Schengen area for short stays to record his/her entry and exit at the external border crossing points allowing for the detection of overstayers ²⁴ .

·This proposal is without prejudice to Directive 2004/38/EC ²⁵ . The proposal does not in any respect amend Directive 2004/38.

·This proposal is without prejudice to Part Two of the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement ²⁶ .

• Consistency with other Union policies

The initiative on visa digitalisation is included in the Commission Work Programme for 2021 ²⁷ and referred to in the New Pact on Migration and Asylum, as noted above. The initiative is mentioned in the Commission communication on A strategy towards a fully functioning and resilient Schengen area ²⁸ , as one of the key actions announced by the Commission to improve external border management.

The initiative also fits with the general EU approach to encourage the modernisation and digitalisation of public services and the Commission communication ²⁹ on the 2030 Digital compass: the European way for the digital decade.

2. LEGAL BASIS, SUBSIDIARITY AND PROPORTIONALITY

• Legal basis

The legal basis of the legislative initiative is Article 77 i of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Article 77(2)(a) TFEU empowers the Union to develop measures concerning ‘the common policy on visas and other short-stay residence permits’. Article 77(2)(b) TFEU empowers the Union to develop measures concerning ‘the checks to which persons crossing external borders are subject. Article 79(2)(a) empowers the Union to develop measures concerning ‘the conditions of entry and residence, and standards on the issue by Member States of long-term visas and residence permits’. As the legal instrument aims at the digitalisation both of short-stay and long-stay visas (only the digital visa format for the latter), a joint legal basis consisting of Articles 77 i and 79 i TFEU is needed.

• Subsidiarity (for non-exclusive competence)

The current disparities between Member States’ visa application processes and different degrees of digitalisation show that the objective to make visa procedures more secure and fit for the digital age cannot be achieved by Member States acting in isolation. The further improvement of these common procedures requires EU action as most of the issues identified are linked to EU law. The problems identified above are unlikely to disappear in the near future and are directly related to existing EU law provisions.

This Regulation, is aiming at streamlining and harmonising the procedures in the context of the common visa policy and. In addition, the initiative is aligning travel, entry requirements and border checks within the Schengen area through digitalisation and the interoperability framework at the borders. Therefore, the amendments of the relevant parts of the Schengen acquis (primarily the Visa Code and the VIS regulation and other related legislative acts ³⁰ ) are only possible at Union level.

By reason of scale, effects and impact of the envisaged actions, the objectives can only be achieved efficiently and systematically at EU level.

• Proportionality

According to the principle of proportionality laid down in Article 5 i TEU, there is a need to match the nature and intensity of a given measure to the identified problem. All problems addressed in this legislative initiative call, in one way or another, for EU-level legislative action enabling Member States to tackle these problems effectively.

The proposal envisages the mandatory replacement of the paper visa sticker with the digital visa and a mandatory EU visa application platform, in which all Member States applying the Schengen acquis in full ³¹ and Schengen associated countries ³² would have to participate once the system starts operation. It will be possible for Member States to avail themselves of an optional transition period.

The proposal contributes to tackling the root causes of the current problems. It would put an end to the fragmented and paper-based visa application process and harmonise the current heterogeneous levels of digitalisation, while ensuring a high degree of security.

This would not go beyond what is necessary to achieve the objectives explained in the previous sections.

• Choice of the instrument

The objectives of this proposal can be achieved by a legislative act that will modify the existing visa procedures. Therefore, a regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 767/2008, Regulation (EC) No 810/2009 and consequential amendments of other regulations is needed.

3. RESULTS OF EX-POST EVALUATIONS, STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATIONS AND IMPACT ASSESSMENTS

• Stakeholder consultations

All stakeholders expressed wide support for the initiative, underlining the expected benefits and conveniences deriving from a modern, user-friendly digital solution, which is expected to facilitate administrative procedures.

During consultations, all Member States expressed support for the introduction of a digital visa. The Member States also support the extension of this digitalisation to long-stay visas. Regarding the EU online application platform, a number of Member States would favour the use of an EU application platform on a voluntary basis (Option 3, described below) whereas others supported the mandatory use of the platform with a transition period (Option 4, described below).

The Fundamental Rights Agency as well as national data protection authorities emphasised the need to adhere to the data protection principles of ‘purpose limitation’ and ‘data minimisation’ when collecting personal data, the importance of clearly defining which authorities have access to which data and the need for the digital application process to be accessible for people with disabilities.

As regards the different policy options, national data protection authorities expressed a preference for the development and building of an EU visa application platform, either on a voluntary or mandatory basis (options 3 and 4, respectively, described below).

The Commission also consulted all relevant stakeholders, including the Fundamental Rights Agency, Europol, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) as well as national data protection authorities on a fully digital visa application procedure which would have exempted travellers from visiting consulates or external service providers to submit their biometrics (see Option 5 below). This was opposed by most stakeholders in particular due to the remote collection of biometrics. In general, the EDPS explained that the higher degree of digitalisation of the options, the greater the risks to data protection. The Commission took the feedback of the EU agencies and national authorities in close consideration, including as regards the concerns raised by the online collection of biometrics under Option 5.

Frontex indicated that the introduction of a digital visa would be welcome as it will make forging visa stickers even more difficult (no more “physical” visa). In addition, the high operating costs of the visa sticker would disappear.

Representatives of the travel and tourism industry supported unanimously Option 4. They highlighted that this would facilitate the application procedure for visa applicants, as well as the positive impact on travel to the EU and the increased attractiveness of the EU as a travel destination. They underlined the need for the EU to offer a seamless travel experience equivalent to the one proposed by countries like Australia, in particular towards travellers from Asian countries subject to visa requirements. Whilst also showing an interest in Option 5, they recognised it could pose security challenges. The responding business organisations also underlined the need to ensure data security, and to envisage a transitional period to ensure a smooth transition from paper-based to digital solutions, as well as a need for fall-back solutions in case of technical issues.

The results of a public consultation held from March to June 2021 also show a very strong support for the digitalisation process, both regarding the digital visa and the possibility to apply online (515 responses). Both the introduction of an online application platform and a digital visa are seen as very positive developments which would facilitate the short-stay visa application procedure and traveling to the EU for visa holders.

• Collection and use of expertise

The Commission contracted an external consultant to conduct a study on the feasibility and implications of options to digitalise visa processing. The report was published in September 2019 and is available online ³³ .

In addition, an external contractor has assisted the Commission by conducting a study including a detailed cost-benefit analysis of the different policy options, which supported the work on the Impact Assessment report. The call for the study was launched in December 2020, following which two substantive bids were evaluated, leading to the award decision at the end of January 2021 to Deloitte.

• Impact assessment

In line with its “Better Regulation” policy, the Commission conducted an Impact Assessment. ³⁴ The Impact Assessment evaluated five policy options, with varying levels of EU intervention in the current visa process:

Option 1 considered as the baseline scenario: under the baseline scenario, no legislative action would be undertaken at EU level. Member States would continue (or not) to develop their national tool. The Commission would issue non-binding recommendations to Member States and support them with soft law measures.

Option 2 includes some minimal legislative changes at European level, aiming to remove legal obstacles that limit the possibility for Member States to further digitalise the visa application process. A mandatory digital visa would replace the paper visa sticker and a web service would be introduced to check its validity.

Option 3 envisages the development and building of an EU visa application platform, albeit only on an opt-in basis. Member States could choose to participate in the EU visa application platform on a voluntary basis or develop, or continue to use, their own national platforms, or even not to develop any digital application solution. Visa holders would be able to check the validity of their digital visa through the EU visa application platform depending on the Member State that issued the visa.

Option 4 like Option 3, this option also includes the development of an EU visa application platform. Whereas participation of the Member States to the EU visa application platform would be optional under Option 3, under Option 4 the EU platform would be mandatory for every Member State after a transition period. Visa holders would be able to check the validity of their digital visa through the EU visa application platform.

Option 5 includes the full digitalisation of the EU visa application procedure on a mandatory basis and without a transition period. Unlike all other options, the applicant would be able to enrol his/her biometric data through a digital application, removing the need to visit the consulate or visa application centre in person which would still exist under all other options.

Based on the findings of the Impact Assessment report, Option 4 is considered the preferred option as it would best achieve all objectives set by the initiative. Option 4 would simplify and harmonise the visa application process, achieving reduction of the administrative burden for Member States (estimated at EUR 510.9 million over the 2025-2029 period) and applicants and would contribute to increase the security of the Schengen visa process. It would also be a good option in relation with other criteria such as data protection and fundamental rights.

Option 4 implies the development of a mandatory EU digital visa application platform for short-stay visas and mandates the use of the digital visa. A transition period would be planned to enable those Member States using or developing their own national visa platforms to phase out their national solutions and join the EU visa application platform, thereby minimizing possible sunk investment costs. Member States would start using the EU visa application gradually within the transition period.

In addition, the EU visa application platform would rely on a decentralised storage of applications in Member States national systems. Consequently, all Member States that have already partially digitalised their application system (e.g. electronic form) should be able to re-use the interface used for transmitting the data in the electronic form to the national visa system used for processing applications. Member States that also have a solution in place whereby the entire application is digitalised may keep their current digital storage solutions. In addition to the lower risks for security or data protection, the decentralised storage would allow mitigating sunk costs for Member States which have already invested in digitalisation and have set up the relevant storage capabilities.

Under this option, third country nationals can apply for a short-stay visa online, via the application platform. However, first-time applicants, repeat applicants every five years ³⁵ , applicants travelling with children (to protect the interest of the child) and applicants who will be travelling on a different travel document than the one used for previous visa applications, would still need to present themselves to the consulate or visa application centre to provide biometrics and for identification purposes, or provide additional information, when necessary.

From the point of view of the security of the Schengen area, a digital visa application process handled via an EU visa application platform and relying on the digital visa would strengthen the security of the overall process, contribute to the security of the Schengen external borders, and increase trust amongst Member States. It would also allow for the partly automated determination of the Member State which is competent for assessing the visa application, on the basis of the criteria of the Visa Code, thus significantly reducing the risk of visa shopping

The digital visa would considerably reduce security risks compared to the visa sticker. This would be the case also in a fall-back scenario, i.e. where checks against the VIS and other EU information systems are technically not possible. It would not be possible to steal blank visas stickers, as can be the case in Member States’ consulates today ³⁶ . Option 4 will harmonise the formats and data quality of supported documents uploaded on the EU application platform which will provide additional safeguards regarding detection of forged documents

• Regulatory fitness and simplification

As per the Commission’s Regulatory Fitness and Performance Programme (REFIT), all initiatives aimed at changing existing EU legislation should aim to simplify and deliver stated policy objectives more efficiently (i.e. by reducing unnecessary regulatory costs). While this initiative has not been subject to the REFIT initiative, it will significantly reduce the overall administrative costs of Member States to manage visa applications, as demonstrated by the Impact Assessment.

• Fundamental rights

This legislative initiative puts a particular focus on the need to ensure full compliance with fundamental rights as enshrined in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.

Visa applicants with reduced mobility would increasingly benefit from the less frequent need to visit a consulate or a visa application centre. On the other hand, certain categories of applicants would still be able to apply at a consulate or a visa application centre if the assistance provided by the EU visa application platform, or by service providers and family or friends, is not sufficient ³⁷ .

Applying online is likely to improve the experience of applying for a visa for people with impaired vision. Digital application platforms, either at EU or national level, have to comply with the Accessibility Directive ³⁸ , under which Member States have to ensure that ‘public sector bodies take the necessary measures to make their websites and mobile applications more accessible by making them perceivable, operable, understandable and robust’. Websites should therefore allow users to change how the information is displayed (font size, colours, etc.) and could also offer audio assistance (reading out texts). This would not be possible, or it would be to a lesser extent, with a paper-based application process. In addition, it would guarantee high accessibility to people unable to see or hear, because the standards and features embedded in the EU application platform would be applied by all countries.

The special provisions which would be applicable to individual cases because of humanitarian reasons would also apply to people with lower IT literacy who would require technical assistance. Nevertheless, digital accessibility issues will gradually decline over time due to the global increase of IT literacy.

As to the rights of the child, the applicable legislative regime which guarantees the on-site process for children would remain in place. The revised VIS Regulation already introduced changes aiming particularly to strengthen the fight against the abuse of children’s rights by lowering the fingerprinting age (from 12 to 6 years), but also imposing strict safeguards to biometric data of children, in particular by limiting the storage period of the data: fingerprints and facial images pertaining to children below the age of 12 will be erased upon the visa having expired and the child having exited the external borders. For repeat applicants with children, a new repeat application will necessitate another on-site procedure in all such cases.

The role of external service providers in the context of digitalisation would depend on which tasks Member States would outsource to them in the new digitalisation context, when allowed by the legislative framework. A large part of administrative tasks currently entrusted to external service providers would no longer be necessary with digital procedures (such as inserting information from the physical application form into digital form). In the short term, the role of external service providers in providing general assistance to the applicant might increase (e.g. assistance to people without IT literacy). However, in the long term, their role with regards to the collection of applications should decrease because repeat applicants who have valid biometrics already enrolled would be able to apply fully online. From a data protection point of view, the use of external service providers entails de facto an additional exposure of personal data to third-parties. This does not pose a threat to data protection as long as processes and technologies used by external service providers comply with data protection and privacy enhancing principles and that proper monitoring of each external service provider is carried out by Member States authorities.

As pointed out by the EDPS, the data protection impact of the initiative is primarily stemming from the introduction of a visa application platform (with an impact on the handling of personal data by external service providers, data security of the platform). In that regard, the analysis of the options has shown that Option 5 presented serious risks regarding data protection due to the self-enrolment of biometrics through digital means. All other options were relatively equivalent as far as data protection was concerned.

Regarding digital visas, currently the information about a visa is both stored in a large-scale EU database – the VIS, as well as evidenced by affixing a visa sticker in the passport. Hence, dematerialising the visa sticker into a purely digital visa does not change the fact that the visa information is, and will still be, stored in a large-scale EU database. The VIS regulation already contains high data protection safeguards (retention rules, access rules, access rights, rights to rectification, completion, erasure of personal data and restriction of processing etc.). Moreover, the recently revised VIS Regulation has further enhanced these data protection safeguards by bringing data protection provisions in line with applicable data protection legislative standards. These enhanced data protection safeguards will continue to apply, as the information contained in the digital visas will continue to be stored in the VIS.

4. BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS

• EU Visa application platform

With regard to the budget implication for the EU institutions, as estimated in the Digital Visa Prototype study ³⁹ , the cost of establishing the EU visa application platform will range between EUR 33.8 million and EUR 41.2 million (including the managed service costs and the adaptations needed for VIS) ⁴⁰ . Once this managed service is created, operation and maintenance costs will amount to a yearly cost between EUR 10.5 million and EUR 12.8 million, including 10 staff for eu-LISA.

Concerning the impact on Member States, each Member State will need to connect and update their national system(s) so they can use the services from the new centralised EU visa application platform. The Impact Assessment estimates this cost between EUR 270 000 and EUR 330 000 per Member State. Once connected, the national systems will need to store the received applications so they can be examined later. The Impact Assessment estimated an investment of roughly EUR 2.5 million to EUR 3 million (on average) per Member State ⁴¹ for these infrastructure provisions. This cost would greatly depend on the number of visa applications a Member State receives per year. Once the national systems have been updated and connected to the managed service and sufficient storage space is envisaged, these new enhanced national systems will also need to be maintained, with an estimated cost between EUR 460 000 and EUR 570 000 per Member State, annually. This cost also varies with the number of applications a Member State receives. It should be underlined that all of the abovementioned costs will, as a result of economies of scale, be lower than the costs a Member State would incur if it were to develop its own online visa application platform.

• Digital visa

The cost attached to the digital visa at central-level (service to check the validity of visas) is included in the abovementioned cost of the EU Visa application platform ( functionality of the platform). In addition to this, the records of visas currently issued are already digitally stored in VIS. Therefore, digitalisation of visas would not imply any other additional costs for the EU budget.

The introduction of the digital visa would trigger only negligible costs for Member States, as per calculations in the impact assessment accompanying this proposal. Indeed, the tools to generate and verify a signed 2D barcode will already be in place to comply with the Commission’s Implementing Decision introducing a digital seal on the uniform format for visas ⁴² .

5. OTHER ELEMENTS

• Implementation plans and monitoring, evaluation and reporting arrangements

A robust monitoring and evaluation mechanism will be crucial to ensure that the envisaged beneficial effects of the implementation of an EU visa application platform and of the digital visa materialise in practice.

Article 57 of the Visa Code and Article 50 of the revised VIS Regulation on Monitoring and Evaluation, already provide for monitoring and evaluation obligations. A dedicated article in the VIS Regulation is added, addressing specifically the evaluation of changes stemming from the adoption of the proposal on digitalisation of visa procedures.

Indicators will allow to measure progress to reach the main objectives, namely to simplify and harmonise the visa application process for Member States and third-country nationals; to reduce risks of (identity) fraud, forgery and facilitate the verification process at the border; and to make the EU a more attractive destination for travellers.

Implementation of visa policy is also monitored or assessed through the Schengen evaluation mechanism in accordance with Council Regulation (EU) No 1053/20133, without prejudice to the Commission's role as guardian of the Treaties (Article 17(1) TEU).

• Variable geometry

This proposal builds upon and develops the Schengen acquis regarding external borders and visas in that it concerns the crossing of external borders and the granting of short-stay visas. Because the legal basis for this proposal is to be found in Title V of Part Three of the TFEU, the system of ‘variable geometry’, as provided for in the protocols on the position of Denmark and Ireland and the Schengen protocol, applies. The consequences for the various protocols and Schengen association agreements therefore have to be considered with regard to Denmark, Ireland, Iceland and Norway; and Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

Likewise, the consequences for the various Acts of Accessions must be considered. The detailed situation of each of the States concerned is set out in recitals 40-47 of this proposal.

• Detailed explanations of the provisions of the proposal

Article 1 of the proposal modifies the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 810/2009 (the Visa Code) to implement the proposal, by making the following notable modifications, alongside a number of other consequential amendments:

·The special status of visa applicants who are family members of UK nationals who are beneficiaries of the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement in relation to their host State, by virtue of Article 14(3) of the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement, is reflected in Article 1 and throughout the text;

·Article 5 lays down the rule to determine the competent Member State to examine an application;

·Article 9 introduces the obligation to apply through an EU digital visa application platform, at the same time maintaining the possibility to cater to certain exceptions, namely visas issued at the external border, visas issued for Heads of State or Government, and individual cases because of humanitarian reasons;

·Article 10 provides for the general rules for lodging an application, with some adaptations to ensure that the rules can apply to a digital context;

·Article 12 outlines that the travel document will have to be presented with the first application, whereas afterwards a scanned copy uploaded to the EU application platform will suffice;

·The rules provided for in Article 13 on biometric identifiers are kept in place, and only targeted changes are made to reflect the EU digital application platform functionalities in particular the use of the external service provider gateway when biometrics are collected by such providers;

·Article 18 is modified in order to reflect the automated competence and admissibility pre-check carried out by the EU visa application platform;

·Article 19 is amended to adapt the rules of admissibility to the use of the EU visa application platform, in particular the inclusion of admissibility pre-check performed by the EU visa application platform;

·The rules set in Article 24 on issuing multiple entry visas are maintained. However, as consequence of dematerialising visas, the validity of the visa will no longer be limited by the expiry date of the passport;

·Article 26a outlines that visas will be issued in a digital format in the Visa Information System.

Article 2 implements the EU visa application platform, by proposing a series of changes in Regulation (EC) No 767/2008 (VIS Regulation). The following notable modifications are made, alongside a number of other consequential amendments:

·Article 2a introduces the online EU visa application platform as a new functionality in the Visa Information System;

·A new Chapter Ia is introduced, laying down the functionalities of the EU visa application platform: outlining the information to be included in the online application form, building on information currently required from applicants (Article 7b); listing the steps to be taken by applicants to submit an application on the platform, mirroring the model of ETIAS and the existing visa application process (Article 7c); introducing the payment and appointment tool (Article 7d); establishing a gateway to allow read-only access to VIS data for External Service Providers (Article 7e); explaining how the notification of decisions will be undertaken, also following the ETIAS model (Article 7f).

·Article 7b provides for specific provisions on the use of the EU application platform by family members of Union citizens or of other third-country nationals enjoying the right of free movement under Union law or of UK nationals who are beneficiaries of the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement.

Article 3 amends Council Regulation (EC) No 1683/95 (Visa Sticker Regulation) to implement the digital visa by specifying that Member States implementing the Schengen acquis in full shall issue visas in digital format.

Article 4 amends Council Regulation (EC) No 333/2002 (uniform format for forms for affixing the visa issued by Member States to persons holding travel documents not recognised by the Member State drawing up the form). With the introduction of digital visas which are not affixed to a travel document, it is no longer necessary to have a special form for affixing visas by the authorities of a Member State to the holder of a travel document which is not recognised by that Member State.

Article 5 provides for targeted amendments to Council Regulation (EC) No 694/2003 on uniform formats for Facilitated Transit Documents (FTD) and Facilitated Rail Transit Documents (FRTD). In order to reflect the digitalisation, it is specified that such documents will be issued in digital format.

Article 6 amends the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement. As the format for short-stay visas, as set by Council Regulation (EC) No 1683/95, is also used for long-stay visas. Therefore, the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement is amended to enable that long-stay visas are also issued in digital format.

Article 7 amends Council Regulation (EC) No 693/2003 (on Facilitated Transit Documents (FTD) and Facilitated Rail Transit Documents (FRTD). The application procedure for these documents is paper-based. In order to reflect digitalisation developments, Council Regulation (EC) No 693/2003 and Council Regulation (EC) No 694/2003 are amended to enable the issuance in digital format, as well as digital applications.

Article 8 provides for targeted technical amendments to Regulation (EU) 2017/2226 (Entry/Exit System Regulation), which are rendered necessary by the introduction of the digital visa and the abolition of the physical visa sticker, in particular the transfer of data from VIS to the EES when a valid visa has been confirmed in a new travel document.

Article 9 provides for standard provisions on the evaluation of the EU application platform.

Article 10 lays out provisions on the start of operations of the EU application platform and digital visa. It also provides for a transition period for the Member States which do not wish to avail themselves of the EU visa application platform, and describes the modalities of this transition period.

Article 11 is a standard provision on entry into force of the amending regulation.