Regulation 2008/767 - Visa Information System (VIS) and the exchange of data between Member States on short-stay visas (VIS Regulation) - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 218/60

Building upon the conclusions of the Council of 20 September 2001, and the conclusions of the European Council in Laeken in December 2001, in Seville in June 2002, in Thessaloniki in June 2003 and in Brussels in March 2004, the establishment of the Visa Information System (VIS) represents one of the key initiatives within the policies of the European Union aimed at establishing an area of freedom, security and justice.

Council Decision 2004/512/EC of 8 June 2004 establishing the Visa Information System (VIS) (2) established the VIS as a system for the exchange of visa data between Member States.

It is now necessary to define the purpose, the functionalities and responsibilities for the VIS, and to establish the conditions and procedures for the exchange of visa data between Member States to facilitate the examination of visa applications and related decisions, taking into account the orientations for the development of the VIS adopted by the Council on 19 February 2004 and to give the Commission the mandate to set up the VIS.

For a transitional period, the Commission should be responsible for the operational management of the central VIS, of the national interfaces and of certain aspects of the communication infrastructure between the central VIS and the national interfaces.

In the long term, and following an impact assessment containing a substantive analysis of alternatives from a financial, operational and organisational perspective, and legislative proposals from the Commission, a permanent Management Authority with responsibility for these tasks should be established. The transitional period should last for no more than five years from the date of entry into force of this Regulation.

The VIS should have the purpose of improving the implementation of the common visa policy, consular cooperation and consultation between central visa authorities by facilitating the exchange of data between Member States on applications and on the decisions relating thereto, in order to facilitate the visa application procedure, to prevent ‘visa shopping’, to facilitate the fight against fraud and to facilitate checks at external border crossing points and within the territory of the Member States. The VIS should also assist in the identification of any person who may not, or may no longer, fulfil the conditions for entry to, stay or residence on the territory of the Member States, and facilitate the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 343/2003 of 18 February 2003 establishing the criteria and mechanism for determining the Member State responsible for examining an asylum application lodged in one of the Member States by a third-country national (3), and contribute to the prevention of threats to the internal security of any of the Member States.

This Regulation is based on the acquis of the common visa policy. The data to be processed by the VIS should be determined on the basis of the data provided by the common form for visa applications as introduced by Council Decision 2002/354/EC of 25 April 2002 on the adaptation of Part III of, and the creation of an Annex 16 to, the Common Consular Instructions (4), and the...