Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the development of the Visa Information System (VIS) in 2012 (submitted pursuant to Article 6 of Council Decision 2004/512/EC)

The Visa Information System (VIS) is a large-scale IT system for the exchange of data on short-stay visas between Schengen States. Its objective is to support the implementation of a common EU visa policy – as well as the EU's migration and border management policy – by preventing "visa shopping", assisting in the fight against irregular migration, contributing to the prevention of threats to internal security of Member States, and bringing transparent and faster procedures for bona fide travellers. It is accompanied by the Biometric Matching System (BMS), which performs fingerprint matching services.

The VIS started operations on 11 October 2011 in North Africa, when all Schengen States connected their consular posts to the system in Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. Since 31 October 2011, all Schengen States also use the system at their external border crossing points. The VIS is being progressively deployed, region by region, and will eventually cover the entire world.

The European Commission has been responsible for the management and the entire implementation process of the VIS ever since 2004, until eu-LISA took over the operational responsibility of the system on 1 December 2012. The system has been functioning in a very satisfying way since it was launched, with only a limited number of minor technical issues being reported. Its central capacity and performance will be increased as it will gradually be deployed around the world. During the last three months of the reporting period, on average 4,900 Schengen visas were issued every day using the VIS.

The Commission, in accordance with Article 6 of Council Decision 2004/512/EC of 8 June 2004 establishing the Visa Information System, herewith submits to the Council and the European Parliament the ninth and final report on the development of the Visa Information System (VIS). The report covers the work carried out by the Commission between January and December 2012.

This report will be the last report delivered by the Commission pursuant to Article 6 of Council Decision 2004/512/EC, as the development of the Central Visa Information System, the National Interface in each Member State, and the communication infrastructure between the Central Visa Information System and the National Interfaces are now all completed.

EUR-Lex: COM(2013)232: Follow the progress of this report through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2013:232:FIN

---