CELEX: 52001PC0157(02)
Language: en
Date: 2001-03-23
Title: Proposal for a Council Regulation on a uniform format for forms for affixing the visa issued by Member States to persons holding travel documents which are not recognised by the Member State drawing up the form

26.6.2001               EN                      Official Journal of the European Communities                                    C 180 E/301
                 Proposal for a Council Regulation on a uniform format for forms for affixing the visa issued by
                 Member States to persons holding travel documents which are not recognised by the Member
                                                         State drawing up the form
                                                              (2001/C 180 E/28)
                                                           (Text with EEA relevance)
                                                 COM(2001) 157 final  2001/0081(CNS)
                                              (Submitted by the Commission on 22 March 2001)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,                                              Member State should communicate the name of the
                                                                                competent body to the Commission and the other
                                                                                Member States.
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 62, 2), b), iii) thereof,
                                                                           (6) With regard to the personal data to be entered on the
                                                                                uniform formats, it is necessary to ensure compliance
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                              with Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and
                                                                                of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of
                                                                                individuals with regard to the processing of personal data
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,
                                                                                and on the free movement of such data (2).
Whereas:
                                                                           (7) The present Regulation constitutes in relation to the
                                                                                implementation of the Agreement on the association of
(1) The harmonisation of visa policy is an important measure                    Norway and Iceland a development of the Schengen
     in relation to establishing progressively an area of freedom,              acquis in the sense of the Protocol integrating the
     security and justice, specifically as regards border crossing.             Schengen acquis into the framework of the European
                                                                                Union.
(2) The forms for affixing visas issued to persons holding travel
     documents which are not recognised by the Member State                (8) Since the measures necessary for the implementation of
     drawing up the form do not currently correspond to the                     this Regulation are measures of general scope within the
     required security standards. For this reason, it is necessary              meaning of Article 2 of Council Decision 1999/468/EC of
     to harmonise the format for such forms in order to render                  28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise
     them more secure.                                                          of implementing powers conferred on the Commission (3),
                                                                                they should be adopted by use of the regulatory procedure
                                                                                provided for in Article 5 of that decision,
(3) This uniform format must contain all the necessary
     information and meet high technical standards, in
     particular as regards safeguards against counterfeiting and
     falsification; they must also be suited to use by all Member
                                                                           HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
     States and bear universally recognisable harmonised
     security features which are clearly visible to the naked eye.
                                                                                                         Article 1
(4) This Regulation only lays down the description of the
     model for the uniform format; this needs to be supple-                1.     For the purposes of this Regulation, form for affixing a
     mented by further technical specifications which are to               visa shall mean the document issued by the authorities of a
     remain secret in order to prevent counterfeiting and falsifi-         Member State to the holder of a travel document which is not
     cations and which may not include personal data or                    recognised by that Member State, to which its competent auth-
     references to such data. Powers to adopt such technical               orities affix a visa.
     specifications should be conferred to the Commission,
     who shall be assisted by the Committee established by
     Article 6 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1683/95 of 29                 2.     The form for affixing a visa shall correspond to the model
     May 1995 laying down a uniform format for visas (1).                  set out in the annex.
(5) To ensure that the information referred to is not made                 3.     Where the holder of a form for affixing a visa is accom-
     available to more persons than necessary, each Member                 panied by his or her dependant(s), it shall be for each Member
     State should designate a single body having responsibility            State to decide whether separate visa sheets should be issued to
     for printing the uniform format, with Member States                   the principal and each of their dependant(s).
     remaining free to change the body, if need be; each
                                                                           (2) OJ L 281, 23.11.1995, p. 31.
(1) OJ L 164, 14.7.1995, p. 1.                                             (3) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.
 ---pagebreak--- C 180 E/302            EN                      Official Journal of the European Communities                                     26.6.2001
                              Article 2                                   personal data and on the free movement of such data (1).
The technical specifications for the uniform format for forms             Without prejudice to these rules, persons to whom the uniform
for affixing the visa and the specifications relating to the              format for forms is issued shall have the right to verify the
following shall be established in compliance with the                     personal particulars contained in the uniform format for forms
procedure referred to in Article 5 (2):                                   and, where appropriate, to ask for any corrections or deletions
                                                                          to be made.
a) security requirements including enhanced anti-forgery,
    counterfeiting and falsification standards                            No information in machine-readable form shall be given on the
                                                                          uniform format for forms.
b) conditions of storage to prevent theft;                                                              Article 5
c) rules for the filling in of the uniform format for affixing the        1.     The Commission shall be assisted by the Committee
    visa;                                                                 instituted by Article 6 of Regulation (EC) No 1683/95.
d) other conditions necessary for the implementation of the               2.     Where reference is made to this paragraph, the regulatory
    uniform format.                                                       procedure laid down in Article 5 of Decision 1999/468/EC
                                                                          shall apply, in compliance with Article 7 thereof.
                              Article 3
                                                                          3.     The period provided for in Article 5 (6) of Decision
The specifications referred to in Article 2 shall be secret and           1999/468/EC shall be one month.
not be published. They shall be made available only to the
bodies designated by the Member States as responsible for                                               Article 6
the printing and to persons duly authorised by a Member
                                                                          The uniform format for form for affixing a visa set out in
State or the Commission.
                                                                          Article 1 shall be used by the Member States no later than 2
Each Member State shall designate one body having responsi-               years after the adoption of the measures referred to in Article
bility for printing the uniform format for forms. It shall                2(a). However, the validity of authorisations granted already
communicate the name of that body to the Commission and                   and issued on another format shall not be affected by the
the other Member States. The same body may be designated by               introduction of the uniform format for affixing the visas,
two or more Member States. Each Member State shall be                     unless the Member State concerned decides otherwise.
entitled to change its designated body. It shall inform the                                             Article 7
Commission and the other Member States accordingly.
                                                                          This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day
                              Article 4                                   following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the
                                                                          European Communities.
The format, production and use of the uniform format for
forms shall comply with Directive 95/46/EC of the European                This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly
Parliament and the Council of 24 October 1995 on the                      applicable in all Member States in accordance with the EC
protection of individuals with regard to the processing of                Treaty.
                                                                          (1) OJ L 281, 23.11.1995, p. 31.
 ---pagebreak--- 26.6.2001         EN                                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                                                                                 C 180 E/303
                                                                                                        ANNEX
                                                                                      Name           of     Member               State
                                                                                      Nom           de     l'État        membre
                                                                                     Form          for      affixing           a    visa
                                                                            Formulaire                pour         apposer             le    visa
                                                                                               No:        ..................
                                     Issuing           authority:
                                     Autorité              de     délivrance:
                                        ........................................................................
                                                                                                                                                  Stamp
                                        ........................................................................
                                                                                                                                                Tampon
                                        ........................................................................
                                        Date:         ..........................................................       ..................................................................
                                        Date:                                                                                                  Signature
                                                                                                                                               Signature
                                        Enter      the     holder's        surname,          forename(s),           date      of   birth      and     passport         number          if
                                        the    passport          number          is  not     indicated         in   the     machine-readable                 area.
                                                                                                                                                         o
                                        Indiquez le nom, prénom, date de naissance du titulaire et le N                                                     du passeport, si
                                        ce    n'est     pas    indiqué         dans      la  zone       lisible    à    la  machine.
                    ...............................................................................................................................
                                                                                                                                                  ..........................................................
                                                                                                VISA             sticker
          The printed text shall appear                  in English and French. The issuing Member State may add other language(s). However, the
          words Form for affixing a visa and Visa sticker, the name of the issuing Member State and the instructions may appea                                                                           r
          in any language(s).