EN    EN EN 
 
EN    EN  COMMISSION OF THE E UROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
Brussels, 7.5.2008 
SEC(2008) 552  
  
COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 
Annex to the Report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament 
on the development of the second generation  Schengen Information System (SIS II) 
Progress Report July – December 2007 
  
[COM(2008)239 final] 
 
EN 2   EN 1. Introduction................................................................................................................ .. 3 
2. Project Status.............................................................................................................. .. 3 
2.1. Progress during the period under review ..................................................................... 3 2.1.1. Network Installation and Testing:................................................................................ 3 2.1.2. Central SIS II.......................................................................................................... ...... 3 
2.1.3. Preparations for Migration and Integration.................................................................. 4 2.1.4. Operational management ............................................................................................. 4 3. Management................................................................................................................. 5  
3.1. Project Management..................................................................................................... 5 3.1.1. Scheduling (Release Phase) ......................................................................................... 5 3.1.2. Risks................................................................................................................... .......... 5 
3.1.3. Project management board........................................................................................... 6 3.1.4. Financial Management................................................................................................. 6 3.2. Meetings.................................................................................................................. ..... 6 
3.2.1. SIS II Committee meetings .......................................................................................... 6 3.2.2. National Planning and Coordination............................................................................ 7 3.2.3. Council meetings........................................................................................................ .. 7 
4. Implementing Measures............................................................................................... 7 4.1. Legal Instruments......................................................................................................... 7 
4.1.1. Test Decision........................................................................................................... ..... 7 
4.1.2. SIRENE Manual And Other Implementing Measures................................................. 7 5. Priorities for the ne xt reporting period......................................................................... 8 
5.1. Testing................................................................................................................... ....... 8 
5.1.1. Operations System Tests (OST)................................................................................... 8 5.1.2. Global Testing:......................................................................................................... .... 8 
5.1.3. Migration:.............................................................................................................. ....... 8 
5.2. Operational Management:............................................................................................ 8 6. Conclusions................................................................................................................. .8  
 
EN 3   EN 1. INTRODUCTION  
This progress report describes the work carried out by the Commission in the second semester 
of 2007 on the development of the second generati on Schengen Information System (SIS II). 
It is presented to the Council and the European  Parliament in accordance with Article 6 of 
Regulation (EC) No 2424/2001 of 6 December 20011 on the development of the second 
generation Schengen Information System (SIS  II). The Council has mandated responsibility 
for developing SIS II to the Commission, assisted by the SIS II Committee2 composed of 
representatives of the Member States. 
The SIS II Project is divided into three phases.  Phase 1 was concerned with system design and 
was formally completed prior to this reportin g period. Phase 2 deals with development and 
testing of the Central System which is a signi ficant part of the current work load. Phase 3 
addresses the issue of migration of data from the currently used SIS+1 to the SIS II system. 
The preparatory work for successful migration is already underway. In order to provide a 
complete picture of the range of activities associated with this ambitious SIS II project, this report also addresses potential ri sks, financial, operational and project management as well as 
implementing measures. 
2. P
ROJECT STATUS  
2.1. Progress during the period under review 
2.1.1.  Network Installation and Testing: 
The SIS II project includes the provision of a wide area communications network, meeting the 
requirements of availability, secu rity, geographical coverage and level of service, to all the 
national and central systems to communicate.3 The Central Unit (CU) and the Backup Central 
Unit (BCU) have been accessible since early Ju ly 2007. All Member States have had their 
main sites and the vast majority of back-up sites connected to the s-Testa network since 
November 2007. 
2.1.2.  Central SIS II 
The System Solution Tests (SST) are designed to verify that the central SIS II on the central 
sites is compliant with the t echnical specification. The test s, conducted without national 
systems, commenced in July 2007, and were carried out by the main development contractor under Commission supervision. The test phase (' SST') was formally completed and accepted 
by the Commission on 14 December 2007. A number of remaining bugs will be resolved prior 
to the start of the next test phase, Operational System Tes ting. All Member States will be 
required to test the compliance of their national systems with the central system by June 2008. 
                                                
 
1 OJ L 328, 13 December 2001, modified by Co uncil Regulation N° 1988 /2006, OJ L 411/1 of 
30.12.2006 (the modifications in the 2006 regulation do not concern Article 6). 
2 Article 2 of Council Decision 2001/886/JHA of 6 December 2001 on  the development of the second 
generation Schengen Information System (SIS II), OJ L 328, 13.12.2001, p. 1-3 and Article 2 of 
Council Regulation (EC) N° 2424/2001 
3 The necessary arrangements for the use of the en cryption box for SIS II have to be completed. 
 
EN 4   EN As of 17 December 2007, the levels of participa tion of Member States in informal testing 
towards this goal were as follows: Nineteen Member States / users have completed the basic 
tests for connection to the SIS II network, of which fourteen have moved on to informally 
testing their national systems against the central  system (PT, IT, DE, EL, IS, FI, AT, NL, HU, 
DK, SE, SL, LU and CY). Five of these Member States (IT, PT, SE, NL, HU) have 
volunteered to assist the Commission with furt her testing of the ce ntral system, and are 
therefore the most advanced to date in testi ng the compliance of their national systems with 
the central system. Four MS (UK, EE, BE, FR) and Europol are in the process of doing the 
basic tests. Four MS (LV, IE, MT, PL) and Euro just have not yet started the basic tests.  
2.1.3.  Preparations for Migration and Integration 
In 2006 a migration plan was prepared in co op eration with Member States' experts, for the 
move from SIS1+ to SIS II. This migration plan involved the existing 15 Schengen Member 
States. Following months of preparation the move in this 'overnight migration' scenario would 
take place within eight hours. It was chosen in order to acce lerate the migration of new 
Member States and remove border co ntrols as quickly as possible. 
With the completion of the SISone4All project  this integration pressure was removed. 
However, the number of Member States incr eased, as did the complexity of managing the 
migration. Accordingly, in the SIS II Committee, the need for a reassessment of the migration 
strategy was identified.  On 13 September 2007 an advisory  working group (the Migration 
Working Group) of the SIS II Committee was created  to examine specific issues regarding the 
SIS II migration and to advise the SIS II Co mmittee on the decisions to be taken in the 
preparation thereof. The Migration Working Group is mandated to make concrete proposals 
for a global and coherent strategy and high-leve l plan for the timely preparation and execution 
of migration from SIS 1+ to SIS II, includi ng risk analysis and a contingency plan.  
On 17 of October the first meeting of th e Migration Working Group was held with 
participation of Member State representatives, C.SIS including representatives of those 
Member States that will host the SIS II, c ontractors and the Commi ssion services. The high 
risk nature of the 'overnight migration' strate gy prompted the discussion of an alternative 
approach for migration whereby a longer period  could be provided for those Member States 
failing to complete the process within the eight hour timeframe. 
In December 2007, Member States' experts agreed on a lower risk approach. It is anticipated 
that on the date of start of ope rations, SIS 1+ is not  switched off, but SIS 1+ and SIS II 
operate in parallel for a limited period. This fall-back plan is needed in case any Member State experiences a problem during the planne d eight hour switchover. A gradual migration, 
during a very short time period (1 -2 months) can provide this fall back. There is still a need to 
work on the detail. 
Switzerland has indicated that it wishes to jo in SIS 1+ using the SI Sone4All solution. It is 
envisaged that Switzerland coul d be "technically ready" in May 2008. All SIS 1+ users, 
including Switzerland if it participates in SISone4All, will have to migrate on time to SIS II.  
2.1.4.  Operational management 
The French authorities have confirmed their commitment to participating in operational 
management during the transitional period. This period represents the time between SIS II go-
live and the establishment of the management au thority that will be entrusted with the long 
term management of SIS II. The first of a series  of four service contra cts was signed in July 
 
EN 5   EN 2007, covering the provision of serviced work space in prefabricated buildings within the 
Strasbourg complex as from November 2007. 
The Commission is currently in the final stag es of negotiating the second contract with 
France, covering the provision of staff at the cen tral site that will be trained in SIS II 
operations as from 1st April 2008. France has now clarified it s role during final SIS II tests.  
The Austrian authorities have committed to pr ovision of space and 24/7 security monitoring. 
Discussions are on going on how the back-up cent ral unit administrator tasks will be carried 
out. 
3. MANAGEMENT  
3.1. Project Management 
3.1.1.  Scheduling (Release Phase) 
Between July 2007 and September 2007, timeframe s for testing were adapted to ensure 
sufficient time for error correction between test phases. This accommodated the various 
national development time constraints wh ile maintaining the overall schedule.  
3.1.2.  Risks 
In accordance with best practice, monitoring of  potential risks is a continuous activity. An 
overview is given here of the major risks identifi ed at the end of this reporting period which 
have the potential to negativel y affect the project schedule. 
Main risks under Commission responsibility: 
• Insufficient number of Member States re ady to commence the test phase requiring 
Member States' involvement (Operationa l System Tests - OST). See point 5.1.1 
• Delays in setting up the practical arrangements regarding operational management 
of the Central SIS II. 
• Uncertainties linked to the Test Decision. See Point 4.1.1 
Main risks under joint responsibility of the Commission and Member States: 
• Risk of delay of the go-live date as margins built into the SIS II project have been 
reduced. 
• Time for correction of issues is limited, especially after the major central SIS II 
tests and national compliance tests have been completed 
• Unpredictable duration of SIS II final tests (global tests) 
• Uncertainty on how migration impacts on project schedule  
• New SIS users close to the migration process 
 
EN 6   EN 3.1.3.  Project management board 
In addition to Commission services and the project contractors, re presentatives of the 
German, Portuguese, Slovenian and French Presid encies as well as a representative of the 
C.SIS are invited to participate in the Projec t Management Board. This board met four times  
during the period covered by this report. 
3.1.4.  Financial Management 
The total appropriations for SI S II activities provided for in the 2007 General Budget amount 
to €20,000,000 (of which €5,000,000 were entered in to the reserve). A financing decision 
with a total budget of €19,000,000 was adopted by  the Commission on 22 February 2007. The 
main components of expenditure during 2007 ar e site preparation, the network, preparation 
for operations, external assistan ce for developing monitoring a nd quality contro l, security 
audit, studies, preparatory work for the SIS II information campaign and changes to SIS II due to the impact of SISone4All. 
70.09% of the total SIS II appropriations have been committed and payments corresponding 
to 35.73% of payment appropriations have been made.  
3.2. Meetings 
The SIS II project involves bot h the Commission and the Memb er States and can only be 
achieved if the SIS II national systems ar e developed and connected on time. Regular 
meetings and reporting mechanisms are fundamental constituents for effective project management. 
3.2.1.  SIS II Committee meetings 
The Commission is assisted in the development of SIS II by the SIS II Committee, in 
accordance with the management and regulatory procedures prescribed in the Council Decision and Council Regulation of 6 Dece mber 2001. The Committee is composed of 
delegates from the 27 EU Member States, Norway, Iceland, Eurojust and Europol. 
Switzerland has participated in the SIS II Committee meetings since 17 November 2004. 
Since October 2004, the SIS II Committee has al so been competent for Visa Information 
System (VIS) issues, in accordance with  Council Decision 2004/512. There were five
 
meetings  of the SIS II Committee in the period July – December 2007. 
In addition to regular SIS II Committee meetings , meetings with Member States’ experts are 
organised to discuss detailed technical issues. These meeti ngs generally focus on issues 
arising from specific project deliverables. 
• The SIS II Committee has created a worki ng group known as the "T est Advisory Group" 
(TAG), in order to provide it with an opini on on issues relating to the organisation, 
implementation and interpretation of tests. Th is group (composed of representatives from 
AT, DE, NL, PT, SE, the Commission, the main  development contractor and third party 
experts) held seven meetings  in this reporting period. 
• The SIS II Committee has also created a "Change Management Board" (CMB), in order to 
provide it with advice on cl assification, qualificati on and the potential im pact of correction 
of reported issues. It also advises the Committee on possible solutions, the implementation 
 
EN 7   EN of issues which have been reported, requested  changes and the schedu ling of the release of 
updated software. This working group, which re ports to the SIS II Committee, met seven  
times  during the reporting period.  
• The first meeting of the Migra tion Working Group took place on 17th October 2007 and a 
full description of its mandate is described in section 2.1.2. dealing with Project Status. 
Four  meetings have taken place in this reporting period. 
3.2.2.  National Planning and Coordination 
Each month a Working Group meeting for the Me mber States’ national project managers 
(NPM) is organised within the framework of  the SIS II Committee. The purpose of these 
NPM meetings is to deal with detailed planni ng issues, risks and activit ies both at the central 
and national project levels.  
Member States have been asked to submit m onthly reports, with a view to providing a 
detailed update on the state of development. There was an increasing trend in the level of 
Member State reporting on the status of nationa l projects. Unfortunately this has tailed off. 
There are still some Member States whose st ate of development of national system is 
unknown which may impact on the completion of the SIS II tests. Of the existing SIS 1+ users 
five Member States submitted ten out of the ten reports expected. Three Member States submitted two out of the ten reports expected. The January NPM meeting will take place in 
Strasbourg and Member States will visit the ma in site that will hos t the central SIS II. 
3.2.3.  Council meetings 
Commission services take part in the meetings of the Council Working Groups responsible for 
the Schengen Information System, presenting them with an oral report on the progress of the 
SIS II project and the associated risks on a mo nthly basis. The Commission services also 
provide a monthly written report on the SIS II project covering progress with the project and 
risks. This report is primarily for the SIS II Committee but it is also transmitted to the Committee on Article 36 for the sake of transpar ency. The SIS II project was discussed at the 
JHA Council during the period under report.  
4. I
MPLEMENTING MEASURES  
4.1. Legal Instruments 
4.1.1.  Test Decision 
At its September 2007 meeting, the SIS II Committee delivered a negative opinion on the 
draft Commission Decision on SIS II tests, with th e majority of Member States' delegations 
expressing the view that a lega l instrument was not needed. The proposed test decision has 
been reviewed and transmitted to Council at the end of 2007.   
4.1.2.  SIRENE Manual And Other Implementing Measures 
The new SIS/VIS regulatory committee, estab lished on the basis of Regulation 1987/2006 and 
Decision 2007/533/JHA, gave a positive opinion on the draft Commission Decision for the 
SIS II SIRENE manual and other SIS II implementing measures. 
 
EN 8   EN 5. PRIORITIES FOR THE NEXT REPORTING PERIOD  
5.1. Testing 
5.1.1.  Operational System Tests (OST) 
The Operational System Tests (OST) test the Ce ntral System with a set of connected national 
systems. This stage of testing involves the Member Stat es, leading to central system 
acceptance , compliance of national systems developments with SIS II specifications and full 
alignment between the national systems and the central system. The Commission is relying on a number of volunteer Member States to be ready to take part in the first testing of the central 
system against their national systems. Prep aration for this phase commenced in mid 
December 2007 and the tests are sche duled to be completed by May 2008. 
5.1.2.  Global Testing: 
Discussions are ongoing on the timing for globa l testing – experience with SISone4All 
suggests that this test stage may take longer than originally agreed in SIS II Committee. 
5.1.3.  Migration Preparation: 
Preparation for migration continues. Technical specifications of the identified migration 
approach will have to be worked out. 
5.2. Operational Management: 
Preparations for operational management for SI S II will continue, including negotiation on the 
service contracts with France an d with Austria. Work with the main development contractor 
will also continue, with a view to facilitati ng a smooth competency transfer to the French 
(and, where applicable, the Austrian authorities ), including the organi sation of training.  
Conclusions  The Central SIS II has completed the first phase  of tests which is te sting without Member 
State participation. Member States have comm enced testing their national systems. Despite 
initial difficulties, which have negatively impact ed the planning margins built into the overall 
project schedule, there is now a stable netw ork between Member States and the two sites 
hosting the Central SIS II. The first contract  with France to prepare the operational 
management tasks is signed and the contract with  Austria is to be signed within this reporting 
period. 
However, the project has encountered some se t-backs in the past six months; the negative 
opinion of the SIS II regulat ory Committee on the draft Co mmission Decision:on tests, the 
concerns relating to migration and the duration of the global tests. It will depend on and the 
outcome of ongoing discussions on th ese issues to which extent th e overall planning will be 
impacted. 
During the next reporting period the Commission will continue to work closely with the 
Member States, including those hosting the central SIS II, on th e foreseen phases of testing 
and the planning, resourcing, organisation and sche duling of the move from SIS 1+ to SIS II. 
 
EN 9   EN Annex I  
SIS II Committee and Working Group Meetings 
a) Meetings held during the reporting period 
JULY 2007 
3 Test Advisory Group 
4 Change Management Board 
10 Test Advisory Group 
17 Test Advisory Group 
25 Operational System Tests (OST) / Tests Advisory Group 
26 SIS II Committee / National Projects Managers  
31 Test Advisory Group 
 
AUGUST 2007 
7 Test Advisory Group 
21 Test Advisory Group 
29 Change Management Group 
 
SEPTEMBER 2007 
11 Test Advisory Group  
12 SIS II Working Group 'National Project Managers' Meeting 
13 SIS II Committee / Change Management Board 
14 Project Management Board / Operational Systems Tests (OST) Working Group 
 
EN 10   EN OCTOBER 2007 
2  Change Management Board  
10 Change Management Board  
11 Project Management Board 
17 Migration Working Group 
18 'National Project Managers' Meeting 
19 SIS II Committee 
 
NOVEMBER 2007  
7 Change Management Board 
8 Project Management Board 
9 Migration Working Group 
21 SIS II Working Group 'National Project Managers' Meeting 
22 SIS II Committee / Migration Working Group 
 
DECEMBER 2008 
6 Migration Working Group 
12 Change Management Board 
13 Project Management Board 
18 National Projects Managers' Meeting 
19 SIS II Committee  
 
EN 11   EN b) Meetings already scheduled for the forthcoming reporting period  
JANUARY 2008 
10  Project Management Board 
15 Change Management Board 
23 SIS II National Project Managers (Strasbourg) 
24 SIS II Committee (Strasbourg) 
 
FEBRUARY 2008 
13 Change Management Board 
14 Project Management Board 
21 SIS II National Project Managers 
22 SIS II Committee 
 
MARCH 2008 
12 Change Management Board 
13 Project Management Board 
 
APRIL 2008 
9 SIS II National Projects Managers 
17 Project Management Board