Brussels, 26/03/2009 (Agence Europe) - After over two years of negotiation with the EU Council, the European Parliament (EP) adopted, on Wednesday 25 March, the codecision report by Sarah Ludford (ALDE, UK) on common consular instructions. Giving their support for the text, MEPs explicitly gave their approval for the second reading agreement on introducing biometric data into the European Visa Information System (VIS). This system, which should be operational by mid-December 2009, aims to facilitate identification of the person requesting a visa, preventing the use of false identities, and to facilitate the visa issuance procedure while preventing “visa shopping”, i.e. simultaneous visa requests in several different EU countries. Common consular instructions, without which the VIS cannot function, ensure that all member states issue visas to nationals of nearly 100 countries on the basis of similar criteria and characteristics. During the vote, MEPs above all confirmed that children under 12 years of age will be exempt from having to give their fingerprints under the VIS. During negotiations with the Council, MEPs managed to have this exemption passed given the results of studies on the reliability of fingerprints which point to the fact that fingerprints are still developing until the age of 12 years so that they do not correspond to those on the visa. “The VIS does not aim to be a giant experiment. It must work effectively from the time it is brought into service”, Ms Ludford said. During the debate organised the day before the vote, Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou said the Commission had, at Parliament's request, called on the Joint Research Centre to study the question of taking fingerprints from children below the age of 12. The results, which are now the subject of a work paper, will soon be sent to the Council and Parliament, she said. MEPs also invited member states to pool material used for taking biometric data in order to facilitate the registration of visa applicants and cut costs for the collection of biometric data. They above all envisage the creation of a special type of representation purely to receive applications and collect biometric data, common application centres or a system for joint premises for diplomatic or consular representations. As a last resort, MEPs envisage using external service providers within the strict framework of a number of specific guarantees. (B.C./transl.jl)