Background

Regulation (EC) No 1987/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 provides for the establishment, operation and use of the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II). The SIS II Regulation lays down the technical aspects and the operation of SIS II, the conditions for issuing alerts on refusal of entry or stay for non-EU nationals, the processing of data relating to alerts, and conditions of data access and protection.

SIS II

The second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II), which replaces the current system (SIS I), is a large-scale information system containing alerts on persons and objects. It will be used by border guards, customs officers, visa- and law-enforcement authorities throughout the Schengen area, with a view to ensuring security.

SIS II is composed of:

• a central system ("Central SIS II");
• a national system (the "N.SIS II") in each Member State (the national data systems that will communicate with the Central SIS II);
• a communication infrastructure between the central system and the national systems providing an encrypted virtual network dedicated to SIS II data and the exchange of data between the authorities responsible for the exchange of all supplementary information * (SIRENE Bureaux).

Evaluation

Three years after the SIS II is brought into operation, and then every four years, the Commission will produce an overall evaluation of the Central SIS II and the bilateral and multilateral exchanges of supplementary information between Member States. It will transmit the evaluation to the European Parliament and the Council.

More information

Please find all details and key terms in Europa - Summaries of EU Legislation.