Brussels, 09/05/2003 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission expects Member States to adopt "political guidelines" at the JHA Council of 5 and 6 June on the continuation of a project to set up a European on-line database of visas awarded or refused in the European Union and by Member States' embassies in third countries. In the Council on Thursday, Commissioner Vitorino presented Ministers with the results of a feasibility study carried out in this area by the Commission. Basing itself on these results, the Commission recommends a three-tier database (European, national and embassies), all inter-linked. It feels that this database (VIS) should be linked to the Schengen information system (SIS II). The cost of this database will largely depend on the biometric data selected, the Commissioner told the Press. "We must bear in mind that, using biometric date on this scale, the system will be entering new, largely uncharted territory", he told the Ministers, adding that "the study clearly shows that this issue will have significant consequences on the system, in technical and financial terms alike". The Commission, he pointed out, is preparing a detailed study on including biometric data in visas and passports.
The Commission expects Member States to take position on these three points (architecture of the system, links to SIS, type of data). The Council's political decision "is a precondition for work to begin on the first legal instrument, which will provide the legal base necessary for the budget needed to develop VIS", said Antonio Vitorino. "A second legal instrument will be developed at a later stage to cover all parts of the system, such as access, use, and data protection".