The committee adopted the report approving the proposal for a regulation laying down a uniform format for visas. This proposal was limited to defining the physical characteristics (the form, the data included, etc.) for a future visa valid at Community level. However, it was important to remember, as the EP had always pointed out, that a harmonised visa policy called for measures such as the definition of a list of third countries whose nationals were required to hold a visa when crossing the external borders of the Member States or the harmonisation of checks on persons crossing external borders. Unfortunately, the proposals that had been submitted to this end seemed to have reached a deadlock. The rapporteur suggested that the regulation should clarify that it applied solely to visas for short-term stays ("grosso modo", up to three months). Another amendment pointed out that the secret specifications that applied to the format - those necessary to avoid counterfeiting and falsification - which would be adopted according to a specific procedure, could not include or refer to personal data.
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