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 [SEC(2008) 552]
Date: 2008-05-07
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Schengen Information System, report, systems interconnection, transmission network

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 7.5.2008 
COM(2008) 239 final 

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 

[SEC(2008) 552] 

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   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 generation 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  2001  on  the  development  of  the  second 
generation Schengen Information System (SIS II).  

2. 

2.1. 

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS DURING THE PERIOD UNDER REVIEW 

Network Installation and Testing: 

The SIS II project includes the provision of a wide area communications network, meeting the 
requirements  of  availability,  security,  geographical  coverage  and  level  of  service,  to  all  the 
national  and  central  systems  to  communicate.  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. 

2.2. 

Central SIS II: 

The System Solution Tests (SST) have been conducted to verify that the central SIS II on the 
central sites is compliant with the technical specification.  

2.3. 

Preparations for Migration and Integration: 

In 2006 a migration plan was prepared in co operation with Member States' experts, for the 
move  from  SIS1+  to  SIS  II.  With  the  completion  of  the  SISone4All  project,  the  number  of 
Member  States  increased,  as  did  the  complexity  of  managing  the  migration.  A  Migration 
Working  Group  has  been  established  within  the  framework  of  the  SIS  II  Committee  and  is 
mandated to make concrete proposals for a global and coherent strategy and high-level plan 
for  the  timely  preparation  and  execution  of  migration  from  SIS  1+  to  SIS  II,  including  risk 
analysis and a contingency plan.  

3. 

CONCLUSIONS 

The  Central  SIS  II  has  completed  the  first  phase  of  tests  which  is  testing  without  Member 
State  participation.  Member  States  have  commenced  testing  their  national  systems.  Despite 
initial difficulties, which have negatively impacted the planning margins built into the overall 
project  schedule,  there  is  now  a  stable  network  between  Member  States  and  the  two  sites 
hosting the Central SIS II. However, the project has encountered some set-backs in the past 
six months; the negative opinion of the SIS II regulatory Committee on the draft Commission 
Decision  on  tests,  the  concerns  relating  to  migration  and  the  duration  of  the  global  tests.  It 
will depend on the outcome of ongoing discussions on these issues to which extent the overall 
planning will be impacted. 

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