Regulation (EU) 2018/1861 on the establishment, operation and use of the Schengen Information System (SIS) in the field of border checks

What it is

to reform the Schengen Information System (SIS) in order to enhance the general provisions of EU border management. PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council. ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council. BACKGROUND: in 2016, the Commission carried out a comprehensive evaluation of SIS , three years after the entry into operation of its second generation. This evaluation showed that SIS has been a genuine operational success. The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs adopted the report by Carlos COELHO (EPP, PT) on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the establishment, operation and use of the Schengen Information System (SIS) in the field of border checks, amending Regulation (EU) No 515/2014 and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1987/2006. The committee recommended that Parliament’s position adopted in first reading following the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the Commission proposal as follows: System architecture: the Commission’s proposal requires all Member States to have a national copy containing a complete or partial copy of the SIS database as well as a backup N.SIS. Given the risk to data security, Members believe that Member States should not be required to have a national copy in order to ensure the availability of the system. As an additional means of ensuring the uninterrupted availability of the SIS, Members proposed that a back-up communication infrastructure be developed and used in case of failure of the main communication infrastructure. In particular, the "CS-CIS" (containing the SIS database) or its backup version should contain an additional copy of the SIS database and be used simultaneously in active operation. The CS-SIS and its back-up version should be installed at the technical sites of the European Agency for the operational management of large-scale information systems in the area of ​​freedom, security and justice (the "Eu-LISA agency"). Member States’ responsibilities : each Member State shall designate a national authority which is operational 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and shall ensure the exchange and availability of all supplementary information (the SIRENE Bureau). The SIRENE Bureau shall serve as single contact point for Member States to exchange supplementary information regarding alerts. The SIRENE Bureaux shall substantially reply to a request for supplementary information not later than six hours after the receipt of the request. In case of alerts for terrorist offences and in cases of alerts concerning, the SIRENE Bureaux shall act immediately. To further increase the quality of data in SIS, the Agency should also offer training on the use of SIS to national training bodies and, insofar as possible, to SIRENE staff and to end-users. Access to the system : the Commission proposal provides for increased access opportunities for a range of European agencies such as Europol, Eurojust, and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency. The amendments introduced aim to clarify, with…

Frequently asked