Commission Vice-President Frattini presented this recently adopted Commission proposal which is intended to create the legal basis for Member States to take mandatory biometric identifiers - the facial image and ten flat fingerprints - from visa applicants and to give a legal framework for the organisation of Member States' consular offices.
According to the Hague Programme, the Commission was invited to submit a proposal providing for a legal framework for Member States to set up Common Application Centres. The creation of such common application centres for visas is intended to allow Member States to share premises, staff and equipment and thus the economic burden caused by the introduction of biometric data in visas.