15.6.2002 Official Journal of the European Communities L157/1 (Acts whose publication is obligatory) COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 1030/2002 of 13 June 2002 laying down a uniform format for residence permits for third-country nationals THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular point 3 of Article 63 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ('), Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (%), Whereas: 1) The Treaty of Amsterdam aims to establish progressively an area of freedom, security and justice and confers a shared right of initiative on the Commission in order to take the relevant measures on a harmonised immigration policy. Paragraph 38(c)(ii) of the action plan of the Council and the Commission on how best to implement the provi- sions of the Treaty of Amsterdam on an area of freedom, security and justice (*) provides for the prepara- tion of rules concerning procedures for the issue by Member States of long-visas and residence permits. The Tampere European Council of 15 and 16 October 1999 emphasised the need for this harmonised immigra- tion policy, particularly in view of the provisions of the Treaty relating to the entry and residence of third- country nationals. Council Joint Action 97/11/JHA () concerning a uniform format for residence permits confirms the need to harmonise the format of residence permits issued by Member States to third-country nationals. Consequently, it is appropriate that Joint Action 97/11[JHA should henceforth be replaced by a Community act. It is essential that the uniform format for residence permits should contain all the necessary information and meet very high technical standards, in particular as regards safeguards against counterfeiting and falsifica- () O] C 180 E, 26.6.2001, p. 304. (3 Opinion delivered on 12 December 2001 (not yet published in the Official Journal). () O] C 19, 23.1.1999, p. 1. ) O] L 7, 10.1.1997, p. 1. tion. This will contribute to the objective of preventing and combating illegal immigration and illegal residence. The format should also be suited to use by all the Member States and bear universally recognisable harmo- nised security features, which are visible to the naked eye. In order to improve protection of residence permits against counterfeiting and falsification, Member States and the Commission will consider at regular intervals, in line with technological developments, what changes should be made to the security features built into permits, especially incorporation and use of new biometric features. This Regulation only lays down such specifications as are not secret. These specifications need to be supple- mented by specifications which are to remain secret in order to prevent the risk of counterfeiting and falsifica- tions and which may not include personal data or refer- ences to such data. Powers to adopt such additional technical specifications should be conferred on the Commission, which will be assisted by the Committee established by Article 6 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1683/95 of 29 May 1995 laying down a uniform format for visas (°). In this respect, it should be ensured that any lack of continuity with regard to the residence permits arising from the Council Decisions of 17 December 1997 and 8 June 2001 is avoided. To ensure that the information in question is not divulged more widely than is necessary, it is also essen- tial that each Member State designate a single body for printing the uniform format for residence permits, while retaining the possibility of changing that body, if neces- sary. For security reasons, each Member State should communicate the name of the competent body to the Commission and to the other Member States. () OJ L 164, 14.7.1995, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regu- lation (EC) No 334/2002 (O] L 53, 23.2.2002, p. 7).