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1. Consulates and the Union delegations shall cooperate within each jurisdiction to ensure a harmonised application of the common visa policy taking into account local circumstances. To that end, in accordance with Article 5(3) of Council Decision 2010/427/EU (), the Commission shall issue instructions to Union delegations to carry out the relevant coordination tasks provided for in this Article. Where applications lodged in the jurisdiction concerned are examined and decided on by central authorities as referred to in Article 4(1a), Member States shall ensure the active involvement of those central authorities in local Schengen cooperation. The staff contributing to local Schengen cooperation shall be adequately trained and involved in the examination of applications in the jurisdiction concerned.

1a. Member States and the Commission shall, in particular, cooperate in order to:

(a) prepare a harmonised list of supporting documents to be submitted by applicants, taking into account Article 14;

(b) prepare a local implementation of Article 24(2) regarding the issuing of multiple-entry visas;

(c) ensure a common translation of the application form, where relevant;

(d) establish the list of travel documents issued by the host country and update it regularly;

(e) draw up a common information sheet containing the information referred to in Article 47(1);

(f) monitor, where relevant, the implementation of Article 25a(5) and (6).

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3. Member States under local Schengen cooperation shall exchange the following information:

(a) quarterly statistics on uniform visas, visas with limited territorial validity, and airport transit visas applied for, issued, and refused;

(b) information with regard to the assessment of migratory and security risks, in particular on:

(i) the socio-economic structure of the host country;

(ii) sources of information at local level, including social security, health insurance, fiscal registers and entry-exit registrations;

(iii) the use of false, counterfeit or forged documents;

(iv) irregular immigration routes;

(v) trends in fraudulent behaviour;

(vi) trends in refusals;

(c) information on cooperation with external service providers and with transport companies;

(d) information on insurance companies providing adequate travel medical insurance, including verification of the type of coverage and possible excess amount.

7. An annual report shall be drawn up within each jurisdiction by 31 December each year. On the basis of those reports, the Commission shall draw up an annual report on the state of local Schengen cooperation to be submitted to the European Parliament and to the Council.

4. Local Schengen cooperation meetings to deal specifically with operational issues in relation to the application of the common visa policy shall be organised regularly among Member States and the Commission. These meetings shall be convened within the jurisdiction by the Commission, unless otherwise agreed at the request of the Commission. Single-topic meetings may be organised and sub-groups set up to study specific issues within local Schengen cooperation.

5. Summary reports of local Schengen cooperation meetings shall be drawn up systematically and circulated locally. The Commission may delegate the drawing up of the reports to a Member State. The consulates of each Member State shall forward the reports to their central authorities.

————— 6. Representatives of the consulates of Member States not applying the Community acquis in relation to visas, or of third countries, may on an ad hoc basis be invited to participate in meetings for the exchange of information on issues relating to visas.