2002/354/EC: Council Decision of 25 April 2002 on the adaptation of Part III of, and the creation of an Annex 16 to, the Common Consular Instructions
Date: 2002-04-25
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU visa policy, Schengen Agreement, form

L 123/50

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

9.5.2002

COUNCIL DECISION

of 25 April 2002

on the adaptation of Part III of, and the creation of an Annex 16 to, the Common Consular
Instructions

(2002/354/EC)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

(4)

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 789/2001 of 24
April 2001 reserving to the Council implementing powers with
regard to certain detailed provisions and practical procedures
for examining visa applications (1),

Having regard to the initiative of the Kingdom of Belgium,

Whereas:

In accordance with Articles 1 and 2 of the Protocol on
the position of the United Kingdom and Ireland annexed
to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty
establishing the European Community, Ireland and the
United Kingdom are not participating in the adoption of
this Decision and are not
therefore bound by it or
subject to its application,

(1)

(2)

(3)

Harmonisation of visa policy entails in particular that
the Schengen acquis should lay down rules concerning
the procedures and conditions for issuing visas. It seems
logical that the visa application form, which initiates the
procedure for handling visa applications and also serves
as
such
handling, should take the form of a uniform document
used by all the consular services of the Member States.

the medium for verifying conditions

for

In accordance with Articles 1 and 2 of the Protocol on
the position of Denmark annexed to the Treaty on Euro-
pean Union and to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, Denmark is not participating in the adop-
tion of this Decision, and is not therefore bound by it or
subject to its application. Given that this Decision aims
to build upon the Schengen acquis under the provisions
of Title IV of the Third Part of the Treaty establishing the
European Community, Denmark will,
in accordance
with Article 5 of the said Protocol, decide within a
period of six months after the Council has adopted this
Decision whether it will transpose it into its national
law.

As regards the Republic of Iceland and the Kingdom of
Norway, this Decision constitutes a development of the
provisions of the Schengen acquis falling within the area
referred to in Article 1, point B, of Council Decision
1999/437/EC of 17 May 1999 on certain arrangements
for the application of the Agreement concluded by the
Council of the European Union and the Republic of
Iceland and the Kingdom of Norway concerning the
association of those two States with the implementation,
application and development of the Schengen acquis (2).

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The following sentence shall be added after the first sentence of
Section 1 of Part III of the Common Consular Instructions
(CCI):

‘Applications for a uniform visa must be made using the
harmonised form of which a specimen is given in Annex
16.’

Article 2

The specimen harmonised uniform-visa application form
annexed to this Decision shall become Annex 16 to the CCI.

Article 3

This Decision shall apply as from 1 January 2003.

Article 4

This Decision is addressed to the Member States in accordance
with the Treaty establishing the European Community.

Done at Luxembourg, 25 April 2002.

For the Council

The President

M. RAJOY BREY

(1) OJ L 116, 26.4.2001, p. 2.
(2) OJ L 176, 10.7.1999, p. 31.

9.5.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 123/51

ANNEX

‘ANNEX 16

L 123/52

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

9.5.2002