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.

13. Considers it advisable, while respecting the EU's rights and duty to control entry across its own borders, for the European institutions and the Member States to develop, in the context of the common visa policy, a long-term strategy for more coordinated and simplified visa procedures, with consideration given to establishing common consular desks/centres at EU level to ensure that visa procedures are implemented on time and bureaucratic costs reduced; to this end, further to the creation of the European External Action Service (EEAS), calls on the Commission to consider the possibility of deploying the EU delegation offices in the ...[+++]world in order to issue tourist visas in collaboration with the national embassies of the Member States and to explore additional ways of simplifying the issue of tourist visas, such as ‘group tourist visas’ for organised groups and easier access for business travellers;

13.Considers it advisable, while respecting the EU’s rights and duty to control entry across its own borders, for the European institutions and the Member States to develop, in the context of the common visa policy, a long-term strategy for more coordinated and simplified visa procedures, with consideration given to establishing common consular desks/centres at EU level to ensure that visa procedures are implemented on time and bureaucratic costs reduced; to this end, further to the creation of the European External Action Service (EEAS), calls on the Commission to consider the possibility of deploying the EU delegation offices in the w ...[+++]orld in order to issue tourist visas in collaboration with the national embassies of the Member States and to explore additional ways of simplifying the issue of tourist visas, such as ‘group tourist visas’ for organised groups and easier access for business travellers;

As regards visa policy, the establishment of a ‘common corpus’ of legislation, particularly via the consolidation and development of the acquis (the relevant provisions of the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement of 14 June 1985 (2) and the Common Consular Instructions (3), is one of the fundamental components of ‘further development of the common visa policy as part of a multi-layer system aimed at facilitating legitimate travel and tackling illegal immigration through further harmonisation of national legislation and handling practices at local consular missions’, as defined in the Ha ...[+++]gue Programme: strengthening freedom, security and justice in the European Union (4).

A common Schengen visa Internet site is to be established to improve the visibility and a uniform image of the common visa policy.

The Commission anticipated this evaluation of the implementation of the Visa Code by publishing in November 2012 a Communication on the ‘Implementation and development of the common visa policy to spur growth’ and a ‘Report on the functioning of Local Schengen Cooperation during the first two years of implementation of the Visa Code’.