(1)

Pursuant to Article 5a(1) and (2) of Regulation (EC) No 767/2008, the list of travel documents which entitle the holder to cross the external borders and which may be endorsed with a visa, as set out in Decision No 1105/2011/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (2) (the ‘list of travel documents’), together with the notification of the recognition or non-recognition of the listed travel documents (the ‘table of travel documents’), are to be integrated in the Visa Information System (VIS).

(2)

Pursuant to the same provision the VIS is to provide the functionality for the centralised management of the table of notifications of the recognition or non-recognition of the listed travel documents pursuant to Article 4 of Decision No 1105/2011/EU.

(3)

The consultation of the list of travel documents, in conjunction with the notifications of the recognition or non-recognition of the listed travel documents, is a compulsory element of the short-stay visa examination procedure. Such consultation through the VIS would enable automatic verification of the recognition of the applicant’s travel document.

(4)

In accordance with Article 1(3) of Decision No 1105/2011/EU, Member States remain competent for the recognition of travel documents for the purpose of issuing a visa and allowing the holder to cross the external borders.

(5)

Pursuant to Article 5 of Decision No 1105/2011/EU, the Commission is to remain responsible for updating the list of travel documents. Member States are to remain responsible for notifying their position on the recognition and non-recognition of such documents. Therefore, it is necessary to enable Member States to notify and directly update their new position on the recognition status on a selected travel document and edit the table of notifications of the recognition or non-recognition of the listed travel documents, as integrated in the VIS, which should consequently be available to the Member States and the public via a regularly updated electronic publication.

(6)

In order to update the Commission on any notification of the Member States to the table of travel documents, every two weeks the European Union Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (eu-LISA) should extract from the VIS the table of travel documents and provide it to the Commission in electronic format.

(7)

The integration of the list of travel documents and the notifications of the recognition or non-recognition of the listed travel documents into the VIS would also ensure that the VIS, following an automatic processing of the application files in accordance with Article 9a of Regulation (EC) No 767/2008, automatically returns a result on the recognition status of the travel document, thus facilitating the examination of [and decision on] an application. The current visa procedure would be improved because it would avoid that a Member State issues a uniform short-stay visa for a non-recognised travel document and consequent complication for a traveller arriving in another Member State that does not recognise the travel document in question.

(8)

The work in the consulates or the central authorities and border authorities will be facilitated as this functionality would automatically display at central level whether a selected travel document is recognised, non-recognised or if conditions related to the recognition apply, following an automatic processing of application files by VIS.

(9)

To facilitate the examination of a travel document by border control authorities and consular staff, eu-LISA and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency should establish a connection between the table of notifications of the recognition or non-recognition of the listed travel documents, as integrated in the VIS, and the new False and Authentic Documents Online (FADO) system established by Regulation (EU) 2020/493 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3), once it will be operational and contain images and other information about false and authentic documents. There should be no processing of operational personal data in the FADO system.

(10)

Given that Regulation (EU) 2021/1134 of the European Parliament and of the Council (4) builds upon the Schengen acquis, in accordance with Article 4 of Protocol No 22 on the Position of Denmark, annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Denmark notified the implementation of Regulation (EU) 2021/1134 in its national law. Denmark is therefore bound by this Decision.

(11)

This Decision constitutes a development of the provisions of the Schengen acquis in which Ireland does not take part (5). Ireland is therefore not taking part in the adoption of this Decision and is not bound by it or subject to its application.

(12)

As regards Iceland and Norway, this Decision constitutes a development of the provisions of the Schengen acquis within the meaning of the Agreement concluded by the Council of the European Union and the Republic of Iceland and the Kingdom of Norway concerning the association of those two States with the implementation, application and development of the Schengen acquis (6) which fall within the area referred to in Article 1, point B of Council Decision 1999/437/EC (7).

(13)

As regards Switzerland, this Decision constitutes a development of the provisions of the Schengen acquis within the meaning of the Agreement between the European Union, the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on the Swiss Confederation’s association with the implementation, application and development of the Schengen acquis (8) which fall within the area referred to in Article 1, point B, of Decision 1999/437/EC read in conjunction with Article 3 of Council Decision 2008/146/EC (9).

(14)

As regards Liechtenstein, this Decision constitutes a development of the provisions of the Schengen acquis within the meaning of the Protocol between the European Union, the European Community, the Swiss Confederation and the Principality of Liechtenstein on the accession of the Principality of Liechtenstein to the Agreement between the European Union, the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on the Swiss Confederation’s association with the implementation, application and development of the Schengen acquis (10) which fall within the area referred to in Article 1, point B, of Decision 1999/437/EC read in conjunction with Article 3 of Council Decision 2011/350/EU (11).

(15)

This Decision constitutes an act building upon, or otherwise relating to, the Schengen acquis, within, respectively, the meaning of Article 3(2) of the 2003 Act of Accession and Article 4(2) of the 2005 Act of Accession.

(16)

The European Data Protection Supervisor was consulted in accordance with Article 42(1) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council (12) and delivered an opinion on 9 March 2022.

(17)

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Smart Borders Committee,