1.Two years after all the provisions of this Regulation have become applicable, the Commission shall produce an evaluation of its application. This overall evaluation shall include an examination of the results achieved against objectives and of the implementation of the provisions of this Regulation, without prejudice to the reports referred to in paragraph 3.
2.The Commission shall transmit the evaluation referred to in paragraph 1 to the European Parliament and the Council. On the basis of the evaluation, the Commission shall submit, if necessary, appropriate proposals with a view to amending this Regulation.
3.The Commission shall present, three years after the VIS is brought into operation and every four years thereafter, a report to the European Parliament and to the Council on the implementation of Articles 13, 17, 40 to 44 of this Regulation, including the implementation of the collection and use of biometric identifiers, the suitability of the ICAO standard chosen, compliance with data protection rules, experience with external service providers with specific reference to the collection of biometric data, the implementation of the 59-month rule for the copying of fingerprints and the organisation of the procedures relating to applications. The report shall also include, on the basis of Article 17(12), (13) and (14) and of Article 50(4) of the VIS Regulation, the cases in which fingerprints could factually not be provided or were not required to be provided for legal reasons, compared with the number of cases in which fingerprints were taken. The report shall include information on cases in which a person who could factually not provide fingerprints was refused a visa. The report shall be accompanied, where necessary, by appropriate proposals to amend this Regulation.
4.The first of the reports referred to in paragraph 3 shall also address the issue of the sufficient reliability for identification and verification purposes of fingerprints of children under the age of 12 and, in particular, how fingerprints evolve with age, on the basis of the results of a study carried out under the responsibility of the Commission.