Schengen Information System II goes live

The Second Generation of the Schengen Information System (SIS II) goes live today, 9 April, and is expected to operate 365 days a year, 24 hours a day.

The EPP Group has, for several years, supported the need of establishing the SIS II as a way to transfer the system's management from intergovernmental level to the European sphere.

"This is exactly how we should proceed within the Schengen Governance: we need strong and efficient European mechanisms and must not fall back to intergovernmental solutions which have already clearly proven their inefficiency", said Schengen Rapporteur Carlos Coelho MEP.

The SIS II technical high points are the introduction of biometric data, the European Arrest Warrant, interlinking of alerts and general improvement in performance.

SIS II seeks to protect individuals' rights more effectively by refining the previous system's rules on data protection and managing its data by applying criteria founded on the principles of necessity and proportionality.

It also strengthens effective regulation, establishing vigorous cooperation between the European and national supervisors, sharing responsibilities in the new system.

We hope that a lesson has been learned and some of the mistakes made in the past are not repeated in the future. Carlos Coelho MEP

This project has exceeded any prevision in terms of time and costs. The European Commission received the mandate to develop the new system in December 2001, which was scheduled to begin operating in March 2007. This means that the process suffered a six-year delay.

"We hope that a lesson has been learned and some of the mistakes made in the past are not repeated in the future", concluded the Portuguese MEP.

SIS II is a gigantic hi-tech database which helps the authorities track individuals involved in serious crime or without permission to enter or stay in the EU. It also has a missing persons alert system and flags up items such as lost, stolen, or misappropriated banknotes, vehicles, guns and personal documents.

The Schengen Information System is the backbone of a Europe without borders and an area of freedom, security and justice.