| Author (Corporate) | Council of the European Union, European Parliament |
|---|---|
| Series Title | Official Journal of the European Union |
| Series Details | 2023/2667 |
| Publication Date | 07/12/2023 |
| Content Type | Legislation, News, Policy-making |
Summary:Regulation (EU) 2023/2267 - adopted by the co-legislators on 22 November 2023 - introducing amendments to a number of legislative acts as regards the digitalisation of the visa procedure. Regulation (EU) 2023/2685 is related and initially treated as part of the same legislative procedure. Further information:The European Union's (EU) common visa policy is deemed essential to ensure the security and proper functioning of the external borders of the Schengen area. Since the entry into force of the Visa Code in 2010 and the operational launch of the Visa Information System (VIS) in 2011, the environment in which the visa policy operates changed significantly. Not only migration and security challenges have increased over the years, considerable technological development introduces new opportunities for the visa application process. While visa processing is already partially digitalised, two important steps remain paper-based - the visa application process and the visa sticker. These steps are seen as a burden for all stakeholders. Member States are aware of this and some of them partially digitised their application process to make it more efficient and user-friendly. The Council Presidency launched in 2017 a discussion on options to improve the existing visa process in the Council's Visa Working Party. The European Commission adopted a Communication in March 2018 on adapting the common visa policy to the emerging challenges and to launch a reflection on the move towards digital visas. A feasibility study on the digitalisation of visa procedures was carried out in 2019. A project to develop an EU platform prototype was also delivered by eu-LISA in 2020-2021. The Commission's New Pact on Migration and Asylum from 2020 set the objective of making the visa procedure fully digitalised by 2025. This Regulation seeks to modernise, simplify and harmonise the visa application process by digitalising the visa procedure. It also aims to reduce risks of fraud, forgery and facilitate the verification process at the border through digitalisation. It establishes a single online platform allowing travelers to submit an application (and pay the application fee) online for a Schengen visa regardless of the Schengen country they want to visit. The proposal was adopted by the European Commission on 20 April 2022. The European Parliament adopted its negotiating position as regards this draft law on 7 February 2023. The Council of the European Union adopted a general approach for this file on 29 March. An informal agreement between the co-legislators on a compromise text was reached on 13 June. This was formally endorsed by Parliament on 18 October and by the Council on 13 November. The Act was signed by the co-legislators on 22 November 2023 and published in the Official Journal on 7 December 2023. See also: |
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| Source Link | http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/2667/oj |
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| Subject Categories | Justice and Home Affairs |
| Subject Tags | Border Control | Management, Visas |
| International Organisations | European Union [EU] |
