Article 40Forms of cooperation
1.Each Member State shall be responsible for organising the procedures relating to applications. In principle, applications shall be lodged at a consulate of a Member State.
2.Member States shall:
(a)equip their consulates and authorities responsible for issuing visas at the borders with the required material for the collection of biometric identifiers, as well as the offices of their honorary consuls, whenever they make use of them, to collect biometric identifiers in accordance with Article 42; and/or
(b)cooperate with one or more other Member States, within the framework of local Schengen cooperation or by other appropriate contacts, in the form of limited representation, co-location, or a Common Application Centre in accordance with Article 41.
3.In particular circumstances or for reasons relating to the local situation, such as where:
(a)the high number of applicants does not allow the collection of applications and of data to be organised in a timely manner and in decent conditions; or
(b)it is not possible to ensure a good territorial coverage of the third country concerned in any other way;
and where the forms of cooperation referred to in paragraph 2(b) prove not to be appropriate for the Member State concerned, a Member State may, as a last resort, cooperate with an external service provider in accordance with Article 43.
4.Without prejudice to the right to call the applicant for a personal interview, as provided for in Article 21(8), the selection of a form of organisation shall not lead to the applicant being required to appear in person at more than one location in order to lodge an application.
5.Member States shall notify to the Commission how they intend to organise the procedures relating to applications in each consular location.