MEPs of the Civil Liberties Committee have voted to endorse the agreement from inter-institutional negotiations on digitalising visa procedures in the Schengen area.
On Thursday, Civil Liberties Committee MEPs voted to approve the inter-institutional agreement with the Council on digitalising the Schengen visa procedure with 48 votes in favour, 2 against, and 0 abstentions.
The new law would streamline visa application procedures in the Schengen area by moving from physical visa stickers and applications to a digital system, reducing the costs and efforts required to make an application, and also ensure harmonious practises throughout Europe. Visa applications would be processed on a single online platform that would also tell applicants which country will receive their application (in the case of multi-country trips). You can read more about the agreement here.
The plenary of the European Parliament will vote on approving the negotiation result at a future session. Once formally adopted by the Parliament and Council, the act can be published in the Official Journal of the EU, and it will enter into force on the twentieth day after publication.
