Luxembourg, 27/04/2006 (Agence Europe) - As announced (EUROPE 9179), the price of visas for entering the Schengen Area will increase from €35 to €60 as of 1 January 2007. The political agreement reached in Luxembourg on Thursday by the EU Interior Ministers will extend to all non-EU nationals. This increase had been requested by France, mainly to cover the introduction of biometric elements (fingerprints, digital photos) in travel documents. This rise in the price of visas gives “immense satisfaction”, the French Minister for Territorial Planning, Christian Estrosy, said, noting that the “transition to the biometric system costs a great deal”. At the end of 2007, a central electronic database for visas will be set up for all biometric data. The rise in price will concern short term visas (three months maximum) but not long term visas whose price is decided by each Member State. Sweden, Greece and Hungary voted against the text but without managing to form a blocking minority. Greece and Hungary considered that the EU might send a message of closure, mainly with regard to the Balkans, one diplomatic source said. Two exception clauses were included in the agreement. The first exonerates minors under six years of age, researchers and students (Sweden wanted exemption for all young persons under the age of eighteen). The second, subject to specific Commission request, will allow accession candidate countries or countries covered by the EU Neighbourhood Policy to benefit from facilitation. This second option was preferred to geographical exception which was considered “too segregationist”, one diplomatic source said. The countries that have the prospect of joining the EU, like the Balkans, will also be able to benefit from reduced prices if they agree to conclude a re-entry agreement for illegal migrants that transit through their country to the EU, as was the case with Russia and like that being negotiated with Ukraine, which should still have to apply the price of €35 for visas. The Schengen Area, which currently comprises fifteen countries, is expected to enlarge end 2007 to ten new EU Member States as well as to Switzerland, when the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II), mainly comprising particulars for refusal purposes, will be operational. The visa database will share the same IT base as SIS II.