On Wednesday 18 October, by 573 votes to 36 with 16 abstentions and 548 votes to 37 with 9 abstentions respectively, MEPs approved the new regulations on the digitisation of visa procedures and on visa stickers, which were the subject of reports drawn up by Slovenian MEP Matjaž Nemec (S&D).
The day before, during a debate at the European Parliament, the rapporteur welcomed these new provisions, which will enable holders to download their visas onto their phones (see EUROPE 13200/22).
The new regulation introduces the possibility of applying for a visa online and replaces the current visa sticker with a digital visa to make the application process more efficient and improve security in the Schengen area, particularly in the fight against fraud.
A new European visa application platform will also be created, which will also tell applicants which country will receive their application. According to the rapporteur, the European Parliament has also succeeded in obtaining guarantees on digital and linguistic accessibility. Online visa application platforms will also be equipped with conversational artificial intelligence tools (chatbot).
The Vice-President responsible for promoting the European way of life, Margarítis Schinás, welcomed this step, despite the fact that “very few Member States have already digitised their visa procedures”, which are still often lengthy and costly.
Links to texts adopted: https://aeur.eu/f/949; https://aeur.eu/f/94a (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)